MIA88LA126 · Piper PA-22-108
Piper PA-22-108 · Accident: partial loss of engine power (mechanical failure) en route
From Antonio Nery Juarbe Pol Airport (ABO) to an unrecorded destination
Event
- NTSB case
- MIA88LA126
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
- Completed
- API-reported fatalities
- 0 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- 0
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- General aviation
- WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
- Visual Meteorological Cond
Piper PA-22-108
- Aircraft type
- Piper PA-22
- Category
- Airplane
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N5611Z
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Antonio Nery Juarbe Pol Airport (ABO), Arecibo, PRTo not recorded
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- En route · cruise
- First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- Partial loss of engine power (mechanical failure)
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Substantial
Cause areas
- Exhaust system, muffler › Deteriorated
- Exhaust system, muffler › Unapproved part
- Fbo personnel › Maintenance, annual inspection, inadequate
Approximate · Estimated position: the centre of Dorado, the place the record names. Not the accident site.
NTSB narrative
WHILE ON A PERSONAL FLT IN NORMAL CRUISE AT AN ALT OF 1000 FT APRX 2 MILES SOUTHEAST OF THE ARPT, THE ENG BEGAN TO MISFIRE AND THE CABIN FILLED WITH SMOKE. THE PLT ELECTED TO LAND IN A CLEARING. THE PLT ALSO STATED THAT THE ENG WAS LOSING PWR AND THAT A/C COULD NOT MAINTAIN ALT. DURING THE LNDG ROLL THE NOSE GEAR BROKE OFF AFTER HITTING A SMALL RISE IN TERRAIN. THE A/C NOSED OVER & CAME TO REST. POST-CRASH INSP REVEALED THAT THE MUFFLER HAD SEVERAL PIN SIZE RUST HOLES WHICH PERMITTED THE EXHAUST TO BURN THROUGH THE SHROUD AND MELT THE LT MAGNETO WIRING HARNESS INSULATION, VOLTAGE REGULATOR WIRING AND BATTERY WIRES FROM THE GENERATOR. AFTER REPLACING THE MAGNETO WIRING HARNESS AN ENG RUNUP WAS ACCOMPLISHED WITH NO PROBLEMS NOTED. THE MUFFLER SHROUD WAS MADE OF ALUMINUM RATHER THAN STAINLESS STEEL.
Probable cause
WHILE ON A PERSONAL FLT IN NORMAL CRUISE AT AN ALT OF 1000 FT APRX 2 MILES SOUTHEAST OF THE ARPT, THE ENG BEGAN TO MISFIRE AND THE CABIN FILLED WITH SMOKE. THE PLT ELECTED TO LAND IN A CLEARING. THE PLT ALSO STATED THAT THE ENG WAS LOSING PWR AND THT A/C COULD NOT MAINTAIN ALT. DURING TH ELNDG ROLL THE NOSE GEAR BROKE OFF AFTER HITTING A SMALL RISE IN TERRAIN. THE A/C NOSED OVER & CAME TO REST. POST-CRASH INSP REVEALED THAT THE MUFFLER HAD SEVERAL PIN SIZE RUST HOLES WHICH PERMITTED THE EXHAUST TO BURN THROUGH THE SHROUD AND MELT THE LT MAGNETO WIRING HARNESS INSULATION, VOLTAGE REGULATOR WIRING AND BATTERY WIRES FROM THE GENERATOR. AFTER REPLACING THE MAGNETO WIRING HARNESS AN ENG RUNUP WAS ACCOMPLISHED WITH NO PROBLEMS NOTED. THE MUFFLER SHROUD WAS MADE OF ALUMINUM RATHER THAN STAINLESS STEEL.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record MIA88LA126
- Event ID
- 20001213X25305
- Case number
- MIA88LA126
- Dataset
- historical-pre2008
- Source SHA-256
- 89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
- Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
- Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
- The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
- API snapshot SHA-256: 6bd143cd44731784784683716286ef183b4c3bdb17711fd178a1ad3d3c65ec1d; retrieved 2026-09-23T10:49:45.818Z.