Two 14 year old boys steal plane and then crash

On Tue, 28 Feb 2006 06:50:34 -0500, "John Doe"
wrote in gOWMf.43722$Dh.41109@dukeread04::

Two 14-year-old boys from Big Bear are doing OK tonight. Police say they
suffered minor injuries after stealing an airplane from the Big Bear Airport
and crash-landing it in Joshua Tree National Park last night.

The boys' apparent joy-ride ended in the park about 10 miles north of the
Cottonwood station.

It all started here at the Big Bear Airport. A bit later, it ended in the
middle of the desert. Police say two 14-year-olds, stole the keys to one
boy's father's airplane and stole it from its hangar.



FAA Preliminary Report:
http://www.faa.gov/data_statistics/a...a/G_0227_N.txt
************************************************** ******************************
** Report created 2/28/2006 Record 1 **
************************************************** ******************************

IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: UNK Make/Model: MO20 Description: M20,
M20A/B/C/D/E/F/G/J/L/R/S, M20K/M (T
Date: 02/26/2006 Time: 0120

Event Type: Incident Highest Injury: Minor Mid Air: N Missing:
N
Damage: Unknown

LOCATION
City: RIVERSIDE State: CA Country: US

DESCRIPTION
A MOONEY MO20 ACFT, REGISTRATION UNKNOWN, REPORTEDLY WAS STOLEN AND
CRASHED
LANDED IN JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK, THE TWO PERSONS ON BOARD
SUSTAINED
MINOR INJURIES AND WERE TAKEN INTO CUSTODY BY LOCAL AUTHORITIES,
RIVERSIDE,
CA

INJURY DATA Total Fatal: 0
# Crew: 2 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 2
Unk:
# Pass: 0 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0
Unk:
# Grnd: Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0
Unk:

WEATHER: NOT REPORTED

OTHER DATA

Departed: Dep Date: Dep. Time:
Destination: Flt Plan: Wx
Briefing:
Last Radio Cont:
Last Clearance:

FAA FSDO: RIVERSIDE, CA (WP21) Entry date:
02/27/2006

Possible Aircraft Registrar ion Data:
----------------------------------
N-number : N136MP
Aircraft Serial Number : 26-0016
Aircraft Manufacturer : MOONEY
Model : M20L
Engine Manufacturer : PORSCHE
Model : PFM 3200 NO3
Aircraft Year :
Owner Name : WILLIAMS JACK K TRUSTEE
Owner Address : PO BOX XXXX
BIG BEAR LAKE, CA, 92315-6989
Type of Owner : Co-ownership
Registration Date : 07-Mar-1990
Airworthiness Certificate Type : Standard
Approved Operations : Normal
--------------------

N-number : N111MR
Aircraft Serial Number : 670130
Aircraft Manufacturer : MOONEY
Model : M20C
Engine Manufacturer : LYCOMING
Model : O&VO-360 SER
Aircraft Year : 1967
Owner Name : ROGERS JEFFREY S
Owner Address : XXX LIBBY DR
RIVERSIDE, CA, 92507-2514
Type of Owner : Individual
Registration Date : 19-Feb-2004
Airworthiness Certificate Type : Standard
Approved Operations : Normal

Larry Dighera wrote:

DESCRIPTION
A MOONEY MO20 ACFT, REGISTRATION UNKNOWN, REPORTEDLY WAS STOLEN AND
CRASHED
LANDED IN JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK, THE TWO PERSONS ON BOARD
SUSTAINED
MINOR INJURIES AND WERE TAKEN INTO CUSTODY BY LOCAL AUTHORITIES,
RIVERSIDE,

One point worth noting about this accident is that Joshua Tree National
Park is perhaps a 10 to 15 minute flight from Big Bear airport.

Wasn't it reported in the article posted by the OP that the aircraft ran
out of fuel? Something is not right there.

--
Peter

On Tue, 28 Feb 2006 17:54:50 -0500, "Peter R."
wrote in ::

Larry Dighera wrote:

DESCRIPTION
A MOONEY MO20 ACFT, REGISTRATION UNKNOWN, REPORTEDLY WAS STOLEN AND
CRASHED
LANDED IN JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK, THE TWO PERSONS ON BOARD
SUSTAINED
MINOR INJURIES AND WERE TAKEN INTO CUSTODY BY LOCAL AUTHORITIES,
RIVERSIDE,

One point worth noting about this accident is that Joshua Tree National
Park is perhaps a 10 to 15 minute flight from Big Bear airport.

A point about 10 miles north of the Cottonwood station is about 70sm
southeast of Big Bear Lake.
http://maps.google.com/?ll=33.881817...73622,1.864929

Depending on the exact model, the Mooney M-20 cruises between 170 and
200 knots. http://www.risingup.com/planespecs/

Wasn't it reported in the article posted by the OP that the aircraft ran
out of fuel? Something is not right there.

Why?

Larry Dighera wrote:

Peter R wrote:

Wasn't it reported in the article posted by the OP that the aircraft ran
out of fuel? Something is not right there.

Why?

If the aircraft really did run out of fuel, then this plus the fact that
the aircraft didn't fly very far before the engine quit implies that the
aircraft had very little fuel on the ground at Big Bear Airport.

Does it make sense to you that an aircraft sitting on the ground at an
airport surrounded by hostile terrain would have very little fuel in the
tanks? It doesn't to me.


--
Peter

"Peter R." wrote in message
news
Larry Dighera wrote:

Peter R wrote:

Wasn't it reported in the article posted by the OP that the aircraft ran
out of fuel? Something is not right there.

Why?

If the aircraft really did run out of fuel, then this plus the fact that
the aircraft didn't fly very far before the engine quit implies that the
aircraft had very little fuel on the ground at Big Bear Airport.

Does it make sense to you that an aircraft sitting on the ground at an
airport surrounded by hostile terrain would have very little fuel in the
tanks? It doesn't to me.


--
Peter

Wasn't this gone over in that thread about getting fuel stolen? It's out in
the dry country, so not much worry about condensation in the tanks. He
probably tops it off just before departure, something the kid neglected to
pay attention to.

On Tue, 28 Feb 2006 19:01:02 -0500, "Peter R."
wrote in ::


If the aircraft really did run out of fuel, then this plus the fact that
the aircraft didn't fly very far before the engine quit implies that the
aircraft had very little fuel on the ground at Big Bear Airport.

Does it make sense to you that an aircraft sitting on the ground at an
airport surrounded by hostile terrain would have very little fuel in the
tanks? It doesn't to me.


I see what you're getting at, but your presumption relies upon a fact
that hasn't yet been divulged: that the boys knew how to switch tanks.
If the aircraft's cruise speed was 170 knots, a direct route would
have taken over 20 minutes to reach Cottonwood station.

Did anyone catch the N number on that Mooney that the kids crashed?

It looked just like the one I used to own back in the 80s.

"John Doe" wrote in message
news:Wq5Nf.43976$Dh.34150@dukeread04...
Did anyone catch the N number on that Mooney that the kids crashed?

It looked just like the one I used to own back in the 80s.




Nevermind, got it off CNN: N6588U

Registered to:

Registered Owner

Name AMELSBERG MICHAEL G
Street PO BOX 190
City BIG BEAR CITY State CALIFORNIA Zip Code 92314-0190
County SAN BERNARDINO
Country UNITED STATES

I think they are lucky they didnt make it to mexico. Amazing story. the
father must of tought him to fly. He even knew emergency procedures to land
in the desert. Wow on a day of bad weather, they where probably IFR part of
the flight.
This would make a good 1 hour movie.

'In California, you can get a license at 17-years-old.'

More fine reporting.