LAX07LA234 · Piper PA-24-260
Piper PA-24-260 · Accident: total loss of engine power (mechanical failure) en route
From Ramona Airport (RNM) to Qarn Alam Airport (RNM)
Event
- NTSB case
- LAX07LA234
- 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
- N8637P
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Ramona Airport (RNM), Ramona, CATo Qarn Alam Airport (RNM)
- 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
- Total 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
- Electrical system, electric wiring › Deteriorated
- Ignition system, magneto grounding lead (p-lead) › Shorted
Approximate · Coordinates from the NTSB case API, which marks them as estimated or does not say; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
The pilot was performing a test flight to confirm the operation of newly installed avionics. During the return flight to the airport, the engine began to "backfire" and then lost all power. The pilot went through the emergency checklist, but was unable to restart the engine. The pilot force landed the airplane in a dirt field with the landing gear retracted. Both fuel tanks were found to be approximately 1/2 full. Further examination of the airframe revealed a short circuit of both magneto grounding leads in the electrical wiring between the magneto switch and the magneto. The investigation determined that he wiring harnesses were original to the airplane, which was manufactured in 1964. Investigators were able to successfully start the engine and perform a run-up under two separate conditions. The first engine start occurred after investigators disconnected both p-leads at their respective magneto terminals. The second engine start occurred after new electrical wire was connected from the magneto switch to both magnetos. Investigators noted the general overall poor condition of the p-lead electrical wiring. A review of the engine logbook revealed that the engine had been returned to service following a 100-hour inspection about a month prior to the accident. The engine logbook entry indicated that maintenance personnel checked wires, cables, and hoses for condition and security.
Probable cause
A total loss of engine power due to a short circuit between both magneto ground leads. A factor in the accident was the inadequate annual/100-hour maintenance inspection regarding the wires.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record LAX07LA234
- Event ID
- 20070804X01108
- Case number
- LAX07LA234
- 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: 410ff42217680761132ac5f0a7234bef0d86ed783398fc9354a072adfc22cdec; retrieved 2026-09-22T03:35:51.663Z.