LAX04FA168 · Alon A2
Alon A2 · Accident: partial loss of engine power (non-mechanical) during initial climb
From O61 · Cameron Park, CA to Columbia Airport (O22)
Event
- NTSB case
- LAX04FA168
- 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
- 2 · 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
Alon A2
- Aircraft type
- Alon A2
- 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
- N6374V
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From O61 · Cameron Park, CATo Columbia Airport (O22), Columbia, CA
- 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
- Initial climb
- 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 (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
- Stall/spin
- 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 › Loose part/bolt/nut/clamp/etc
- Pilot in command › Airspeed, not maintained
- Pilot in command › Stall/spin, encountered
- Unknown › Maintenance, improper
Approximate · Coordinates from the NTSB case API, which marks them as estimated or does not say; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
The airplane collided with the ground while maneuvering for a forced landing following a partial loss of engine power during the takeoff initial climb. A pilot who had taken off immediately following the accident airplane heard the pilot say on the common traffic radio frequency: "seven four Victor starting a left turn to return to the airport." A ground witness saw the airplane flying slowly with the engine making a very low constant humming sound. Initially, the airplane's wings and nose were level with the horizon. Suddenly, the airplane turned left. The nose went "straight down" and the airplane rapidly descended while reversing course. The airplane collided with the ground in a nose down attitude and was destroyed. The engine had been operated about 54 hours since receiving a major overhaul. According to logbook records, the pilot had performed the last maintenance on the airplane about 3.1 operational hours prior to the accident flight. In part, the maintenance consisted of changing the oil and filter. During the post impact wreckage examination, both of the engine's magnetos were found with finger tight mounting bolts. Evidence was observed of the magnetos having worked back and forth on their mounts through their adjustment range. No other preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures were identified. Fuel was found in the pump, lines, and carburetor, and a significant quantity spilled from the ruptured fuel tanks.
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to maintain an adequate airspeed while maneuvering for a forced landing, which resulted in a stall/spin. Also causal was the partial loss of engine power due to improperly secured magnetos.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record LAX04FA168
- Event ID
- 20040330X00398
- Case number
- LAX04FA168
- 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: e5a8514798233935c66bbcd7def636fac0ebf222a582b60af754814894f5b8f1; retrieved 2026-09-20T18:31:14.743Z.