N231EH

On July 30, 2011, at 1104 central daylight time, a Mooney M20K, N231EH, impacted a field shortly after takeoff from St. Landry Parish-Ahart Field (OPL), Opalousas, Louisiana. The commercial pilot received minor injuries. The airplane sustained substantial damage to both wings, the fuselage, and empennage. The airplane was being operated under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a ferry flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, which operated without a flight plan. The local flight had just originated from OPL.

According to an Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector, the pilot was ferrying the airplane to Kenosha, Wisconsin, to be inspected by a perspective purchaser. He said that shortly after takeoff, immediately after retracting the landing gear, the engine began running rough as if it were no longer firing on all six cylinders. He made a forced landing in a field and collided with trees.

A postaccident examination of the engine, under the direction of the National Transportation Safety Board, disclosed the left magneto fired on all terminals, but the right magneto fired erratically at low RPM. When RPM was increased above 1400, the leads began to fire normally. Disassembly of the right magneto revealed the distributor gear was loose, and carbon tracking was seen on the interior. The rotor gear was also loose and wobbled when rotated. The gap was 5 degrees off from normal.

No fuel was found inside the fuel pump, but a large amount of water was found inside the fuel manifold bowl. The fuel was brown in color. It did not smell like 100LL, and it left a brown stain when it evaporated.