NTSB Factual Report

On June 12, 2012, about 1520 central daylight time, a Mooney M20F, N6455Q, was substantially damaged when it impacted terrain during initial climb after take-off from Hooker Municipal Airport (O45), Hooker, Oklahoma. The private pilot and the non-pilot passenger were seriously injured. The airplane was registered to West Coast Properties, LLC; Cheyenne, Wyoming, and was operated the pilot under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91, as personal flight. Day visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. At the time of the accident the airplane was departing O45 for a flight to an unknown airport near Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The pilot reported that the airplane was in initial climb when there was a sudden partial loss of power. The pilot then retracted the landing gear and control was lost as the airplane began drifting to the left and stalled. The airplane impacted in a nose-down attitude on the nose and both wing tips and came to rest upright in an agricultural field about 900 feet southeast of the runway departure end. There was a significant fuel spill but no postimpact fire. A postaccident examination of the airframe and engine revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.

Routine postaccident toxicology testing was performed by the toxicology laboratory at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Civil Aerospace Medical Institute. The pilot's blood specimen obtained about four hours after the accident was found to contain amphetamine (0.11 ug/ml) and methamphetamine (0.787 ug/ml). Specimens of the pilot's urine obtained about four hours after the accident contained amphetamine (15.708 ug/ml) and methamphetamine (133.847 ug/ml), and in addition contained ephedrine, fentanyl, morphine, ondansetron, phenylpropanolamine, and pseudoephedrine. Methamphetamine is a Schedule II controlled substance and is used medically to treat attention deficit disorder, with or without hyperactivity, and narcolepsy. It is also a drug of abuse with street names crystal meth, crank, and ice. Amphetamine is the primary active metabolite of methamphetamine. Ephedrine, pseudoephedrine and phenylpropanolamine are each over the counter treatments for nasal congestion and appetite suppression but there is no single preparation that contains all three. However, each is used as a main ingredient in the illegal production of methamphetamine and may contaminate the street drug. Fentanyl and morphine are opioid analgesics and ondansetron is an anti-emetic; these had been administered at the hospital which initially provided postaccident care.

At 1515, the automated weather reporting station at Liberal Mid-America Regional Airport (KLBL), Liberal, Kansas, located 17 miles northeast from the accident site, reported wind from 140 degrees at 24 knots with gusts to 32 knots, visibility of 10 miles or greater, sky clear, temperature 30 degrees Celsius (C), dew point temperature 9 degrees C, and an altimeter setting 30.10 inches of Mercury.

NTSB Probable Cause

The pilot’s loss of airplane control after a partial loss of engine power for reasons that could not be determined because postaccident examination of the airframe and engine revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or failures, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s impairment as a result of his recent use of illicit drugs.