NYC04LA057 · Piper PA-24-260
Piper PA-24-260 · Accident: total loss of engine power (non-mechanical) on approach
From Syracuse Hancock International Airport (SYR) to Bradford Regional Airport (BFD)
Narrative check · The NTSB narrative appears to contradict this record's departure or destination. Values are shown as recorded, not corrected; compare with the narrative.
Event
- NTSB case
- NYC04LA057
- 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
- Unknown
- 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-24-260
- Aircraft type
- Piper PA-24
- 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
- N1XF
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route Possible conflict
- From Syracuse Hancock International Airport (SYR), Syracuse, NYTo Bradford Regional Airport (BFD), Bradford, PA
- 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
- Approach
- 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
- Total loss of engine power (non-mechanical)
- Also codedOther events the NTSB coded in the sequence, such as a wire strike after a loss of power. Flight Findings uses them for its kinds of event. Glossary
- Tree(s)
- 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
- Reason for occurrence undetermined
Approximate · Coordinates from the NTSB case API, which marks them as estimated or does not say; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
Prior to departing his home airport, the pilot topped off the main fuel tanks. The flight departed with both fuel selectors positioned to "Main." After an approximate 2 hour flight, the pilot was approaching his home airport, and the fuel selectors remained on "Main." While descending from 6,000 feet to 4,000 feet, the engine "hiccupped," and then experienced several minor power surges, before losing total power. The pilot established a proper glide speed, and attempted a straight-in approach for the nearest runway at the home airport. During the glide, the pilot completed the emergency checklist items, which included verification that the electric fuel pump was on, and cycling the fuel selectors through all tanks. The pilot was unable to restart the engine, and continued the glide toward runway 23. The pilot maintained glide speed, but the airplane impacted small trees about 2,500 to 3,000 feet prior to the runway. Examination of the engine did not reveal any pre-impact mechanical malfunctions. Fuel was observed in all fuel tanks, and fuel was present from the selector valve, to the fuel servo, to the flow divider. When power was applied to the electric fuel pump, it operated continuously. Further examination of the engine revealed that the throttle idle adjustment bushing was missing. However, it was unknown if the bushing separated during flight, or during the forced landing. Subsequently, a flow test of the fuel servo and flow divider did not reveal any discrepancies that would have resulted in a total loss of engine power.
Probable cause
A total loss of engine power for undetermined reasons during approach.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record NYC04LA057
- Event ID
- 20040122X00086
- Case number
- NYC04LA057
- 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, coordinates. 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: c53e9d1116b32e3ac40e53c8478b16bcbf9c3933ce327c09ac077e55da83ed6d; retrieved 2026-09-22T08:02:07.907Z.