1966 Mooney M20F, N9628M, Down Cottonwood, AZ

[1980Mooney]

Not clear what happened.  1966 M20F, N9628M, departed Phoenix-Deer Valley Airport, AZ (KDVT) at about 6:30 AM local time.  There are no ADS-B tracks once he gets north of Phoenix in either FlightAware or ADSBExchange.  Aviation Safety Network claims that this happened at 9:00 AM.  Possibly he had landed at Cottonwood, (P52) earlier and was departing.  Plane crashed adjacent home at 71 Spur Dr., Cottonwood, AZ. (yellow circle)

Propeller does not show any bending.   No evidence of fuel leakage in the pictures.  No fire.  Engine failure?  Fuel starvation?

Don't know who was flying but owner is 82 years old per internet.  Pilot hospitalized and stable condition. 

https://www.flightaware.com/live/flight/N9628M

https://globe.adsbexchange.com/?icao=ad6710&lat=33.902&lon=-111.947&zoom=10.7&showTrace=2024-09-08&trackLabels&timestamp=1725802047

https://asn.flightsafety.org/wikibase/420941

 

 

 

[EricJ]

I'm familiar with that airplane and have talked to the owner before, once at the fuel pump when we happened to be there at the same time and then once or twice on other occasions.   I've heard both that there was a bird strike in a flock of birds, and that there was fuel starvation.    We'll probably have to wait for more reliable data or an official report.

 

[MB65E]

Looks like a lot of energy was dissipated by most of the airframe components and the fence. Flaps were down, partial gear. The main gear doors appear to be the only thing not bent on the entire airplane. 
Lucky he got out, the cabin door looks like it wasn’t going to open. 
-Matt

[Shadrach]

That is a sobering image of the cabin door.  If there had been a fire it would have been very difficult to open.  Looks like the pilot was extracted via the baggage door.  from the images, it does not appear that either wing tank was compromised.  Will be interesting to get more info.  Total distance from DVT to crash site is 61.74NM.  Seems unlikely that anyone would depart with less than 30 minutes of fuel.

[N201MKTurbo]

I flew right by there on Saturday morning. The weather was benign. A little windy, but no big deal.

[Pinecone]

5 hours ago, Shadrach said:

That is a sobering image of the cabin door.  If there had been a fire it would have been very difficult to open.  Looks like the pilot was extracted via the baggage door.  

The last picture seems to show the left side of the fuselage cut out.  Probably the rescue crew.

[1980Mooney]

1 hour ago, Pinecone said:

The last picture seems to show the left side of the fuselage cut out.  Probably the rescue crew.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/09/08/cottonwod-arizona-plane-crash-hospitalizes-pilot/75133618007/
 

Look at the first picture from Facebook that is embedded in this USA today article. I am not going to post it. It clearly shows the fire crew cutting the side of the plane out And they have the stretcher ready. 
 

The pilot is just lucky that the plane did not catch on fire – he would’ve never gotten out and they would’ve never gotten him out in time