Zenith 601XLB N662WB

Summary

On 15 August 2019 at about 17:00 local time, a Zenith 601XLB registered N662WB was involved in an accident near Jamul, California, United States. One person was on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

15 August 2019 at 17:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Jamul, California, United States

Coordinates

32.7022, -116.8672

Aircraft

Zenith 601XLB

Registration

N662WB

Category

Airplane

Year built

2017

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

San Diego/El Cajon → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR19LA222

1 person had minor injuries.

Loss of engine power due to an undetermined loss of electrical power to the engine control system. Contributing factors were the lack of a redundant system to provide for engine control should the engine control system be deprived of electrical power or fail.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was operating an experimental amateur-built airplane on a personal flight. During cruise flight, the engine lost all power, and the pilot performed a forced landing into a field. During the landing roll, the airplane struck a large rock and sustained substantial damage to the left wing and forward fuselage. The airplane’s engine control unit (ECU)—part of the airplane’s full-authority digital engine control system—managed the engine’s electrically powered ignition system. Review of data from the ECU and the airplane’s electronic flight information system revealed that the engine stopped operating because the ECU shut down suddenly. The battery that operated the full-authority digital engine control system appeared to be providing enough electrical power to the system bus for the ECU to operate; thus, the source for the loss of electrical power could not be determined. Subsequent examination of the airplane revealed no anomalies with the ECU or airframe wiring, although an undiscovered intermittent electrical supply failure to the ECU could not be ruled out. The airplane was not equipped with a redundant electrical power source or a backup ECU system. As a result, when the engine control unit shut down suddenly, no system could provide the ECU with the electrical power that would have allowed it to continue operating.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.