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LAX83FA104 · Piper 601P

17 Feb 1983 · San Diego, CA, United States

Piper 601P · Accident: partial loss of engine power (mechanical failure) during takeoff

From an unrecorded airport to Provo, UT

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Event

NTSB case
LAX83FA104
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
5 · 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 601P

Aircraft type
Piper 601
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
N90353
Operator
Unknown
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From not recordedTo Provo, UT
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
Takeoff · roll/run
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
Destroyed

Cause areas

  • Ignition system, magneto › Cracked
  • Ignition system, magneto › Erratic
  • Ignition system, spark plug › Worn
  • Other maintenance personnel › Maintenance, improper
  • Pilot in command › Aborted takeoff, not performed
  • Pilot in command › Operation with known deficiencies in equipment, continued
  • Propeller system/accessories, governor › Improper

Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.

NTSB narrative

WHILE TAKING OFF, THE ACFT CLIMBED APRX 100 TO 200 FT, THEN BEGAN LOOSING ALT. DURING A FORCED LANDING ON A STREET, IT HIT A PARKED CAR & A LIGHT POLE & BURST IN FLAMES. THE PLT, WHO LATER EXPIRED, SAID THAT NEITHER ENG DEVELOPED FULL POWER (2575 RPM). HE SAID THIS WAS NOT UNUSUAL WHEN POWER WAS 1ST APPLIED, BUT SAID FULL RPM WAS GENERALLY OBTAINED SHORTLY AFTER THE ROLL WAS BEGUN. AFTER BEING COMMITTED FOR TAKEOFF, BOTH RPM'S WERE REPORTEDLY BETWEEN 2300 & 2400 RPM.SVRL WITNESSES STATED THE ENGS SOUNDED LIKE THEY WERE RUNNING ROUGH. A WITNESS REPORTED THE ACFT SWERVED 'AS THO THE PLTHAD DIFFICULTY WITH THE L ENG.' REPORTEDLY, THE PLT 'DROPPED SOME MORE FLAPS' BELOW THE 20 DEG TAKEOFF SETTING 'IN ORDERTO PULL IT OFF' & RAISED THE GEAR IMMEDIATELY AFTER LIFT-OFF. ENG TEARDOWNS REVEALED EXCESSIVE SPARK PLUG GAPS, 1 MAG ONTHE R ENG HAD A .008 POINT GAP (.016 REQUIRED), ITS #1 & #4 DISTRIBUTOR BLOCKS WERE CRACKED & THE #1 & #6 LEADS WOULD NOT FIRE PROPERLY. HARTZELL F-6-5A PROP GOVERNORS INSTALLED IN PLACE OF F-6-35A. ACFT WAS APRX 348 LBS OVER MAX WT LMT.

Verbatim NTSB analysis from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record LAX83FA104
Event ID
20001214X42229
Case number
LAX83FA104
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: local date, investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
  • The date is the local date; the NTSB stores the UTC date 1983-02-18.
  • API snapshot SHA-256: 717c76d636be1eb312f9da3195f5080086f15b7df4393d77f92977eb727ed880; retrieved 2026-09-21T07:09:39.421Z.