CHI05LA190 · Mooney M20M
Mooney M20M · Accident: loss of engine power en route
From Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GRR) to Brainerd Lakes Regional Airport (BRD)
Event
- NTSB case
- CHI05LA190
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
- Completed
- API-reported fatalities
- 0 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- General aviation
- WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
- Visual Meteorological Cond
Mooney M20M
- Aircraft type
- Mooney M20
- Category
- Airplane
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N355RZ
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GRR), Grand Rapids, MITo Brainerd Lakes Regional Airport (BRD), Brainerd, MN
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- En route · cruise
- First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- Loss of engine power
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Substantial
Cause areas
- Fluid, oil › Leak
- Lubricating system, oil line › Disconnected
- Other maintenance personnel › Maintenance, improper
- Pilot in command › Unsuitable terrain or takeoff/landing/taxi area, encountered
Approximate · Coordinates from the NTSB case API, which marks them as estimated or does not say; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
The airplane sustained substantial damage on impact with terrain during a forced landing following an in-flight loss of engine power. The pilot's accident report stated, "Climbing through 9,000 feet I noticed that my climb performance had been reduced substantially. I then noticed that I had a serious problem. The [oil] temp was then red-lined, the oil pressure low, and power drastically reduced. At that point I disconnected the autopilot and lowered the nose to avoid a stall and attempt to cool the engine. I contacted [Minneapolis] center and reported the problem. The controller asked if I was declaring an emergency, and I said yes, and requested vectors to the closest airport. At this point I could see oil coming down the left window. ... I had a scattered layer around 3-4,000 feet that I descended through. I got visual on the airport. At that point airspeed and altitude [were] minimal and the power reduced to almost nothing. ... I aimed the aircraft towards mid field and figured if I put the aircraft down without stalling or hitting trees I would walk away. ... I put the aircraft down on the uneven terrain at the south end of [the runway]." An examination of the wreckage revealed a disconnected oil line. The disconnected oil line went to the cylinder valve guides for cooling. The other end of the line was connected at the outlet of the oil cooler from where the oil is supplied to the valve guides. A representative of the fixed base operator stated that three cylinders were removed and replaced. During the engine's operational check, no oil leaks were noted. The technician that performed the work also inspected the work. The representative stated that oil would begin to flow from the disconnected line once the engine warmed up and the vernatherm opened. The representative stated that human factors were also involved, as there was pressure to get the work done as the owner requested. The representative stated that secondary inspectors will be used whenever possible and that the entire maintenance staff will be trained on human factors.
Probable cause
A loss of engine power during cruise flight due to the mechanic's improper maintenance, the disconnected oil line, the oil leak from the disconnected line, and the unsuitable terrain the pilot encountered during the forced landing. Factors were the outside pressures on the maintenance personnel and the uneven terrain.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record CHI05LA190
- Event ID
- 20050802X01146
- Case number
- CHI05LA190
- Dataset
- historical-pre2008
- Source SHA-256
- 89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
- Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
- Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status, coordinates. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
- The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
- API snapshot SHA-256: a2f257648f39e79e15692fcd058c7116b21b91423260a70c718cb89a9d5c2cdd; retrieved 2026-09-22T05:39:13.971Z.