On October 28, 1992, a Mooney M20F (registration N2975L) operated by Glogowski, Stefan W. was involved in an aviation accident near Johnson City, TN. Investigators recorded the probable cause as: The crash was caused by the exhaustion of fuel in the left tank while the fuel selector was positioned to that tank. This summary draws on records from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) historical archive.
An aircraft crashed near its departure point approximately two and a half hours into a flight through marginal visual meteorological conditions.
What happened
Following the recent purchase of the aircraft, the pilot departed from an airfield located in a mountainous region. At the time of the flight, weather conditions were considered marginal for flight in Visual Meteorological Conditions (VMC). The aircraft was not equipped with standard navigational or communication radios, utilizing only a hand-held radio.
Witnesses at the departure site observed that the pilot appeared to be in a hurry to depart and noted that no preflight inspection of the aircraft was performed prior to takeoff. Approximately two and a half hours after the initial departure, the aircraft crashed in the vicinity of the original departure point.
The investigation
Post-crash investigation determined that there was no fuel remaining in the left fuel tank at the time of the accident. The investigation further found that the fuel selector had been set to the left tank.
Probable cause
The crash was caused by the exhaustion of fuel in the left tank while the fuel selector was positioned to that tank.