Piper PA-24-250 N6430P

Summary

On 25 June 2023 at about 16:00 local time, a Piper PA-24-250 registered N6430P was involved in an accident near Alturas, 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

25 June 2023 at 16:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Alturas, California, United States

Nearest airport

Alturas Muni (AAT)

Coordinates

41.4829, -120.5654

Aircraft

Piper PA-24-250

Registration

N6430P

Category

Airplane

Year built

1959

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR23LA239

1 person had minor injuries.

A loss of engine power due to the failure of the right magneto distributor gear and the pilot’s decision to conduct a test flight with known mechanical issues.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that, shortly after takeoff, the airplane’s engine began to run rough, so he returned to the airport, landed uneventfully, parked the airplane, and deplaned his passengers to conduct another preflight inspection. The pilot sampled the fuel, checked for loose spark plugs, and checked the magnetos. The pilot then decided to do an engine run-up and test flight before departing the area with the passengers. After takeoff, about 100 ft above ground level (agl), the engine began to shake violently, and he initiated a turn back to the airport. The engine lost total power, and the airplane landed hard and came to rest upright in the grass adjacent to the runway, resulting in substantial damage to fuselage, both wings, and the right horizontal stabilizer. Postaccident examination of the engine established mechanical and valvetrain continuity. When the propeller was rotated, the No. 5 ignition harness top lead did not spark. The right magneto was removed and functionally tested with an intermittent spark. The left magneto was also removed, and spark was obtained on all posts during the functional check. Further testing revealed that the intermittent spark from the right magneto could not be duplicated. Disassembly of right magneto revealed about 1/4 of the teeth were separated from the distributor gear, which would likely result in a partial loss of engine power and a rough running engine. No additional evidence of any preexisting mechanical malfunctions that would have precluded normal operation were observed with either magneto.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.