CEN20LA256 · Cessna 320 Undesignat
Cessna 320 Undesignat · Accident: loss of engine power (partial) during landing
From Lago Vista Texas Rusty Allen Airport (RYW) to Lago Vista Texas Rusty Allen Airport (RYW)
Event
- NTSB case
- CEN20LA256
- 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
- 1 · 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
Cessna 320 Undesignat
- Aircraft type
- Cessna 320
- 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
- N19AS
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Lago Vista Texas Rusty Allen Airport (RYW), Lago Vista, TXTo Lago Vista Texas Rusty Allen Airport (RYW), Lago Vista, TX
- Aircraft age
- About 59 years (built 1961)
- 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
- Landing
- Defining eventThe 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
- Loss of engine power (partial)
- 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
- Destroyed
Cause areas
- Aircraft › Aircraft oper/perf/capability
- Aircraft › Aircraft power plant
- Environmental issues › Physical environment
- Personnel issues › Task performance
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
The pilot departed in the multi-engine airplane and proceeded east. The airplane turned north and impacted trees about 30 nm west of the last flight track data. A postimpact fire ensued and the wreckage was destroyed.
According to a witness driving near the accident site, the airplane flew low, and she thought the airplane was going to land. Another witness driving near the accident site, observed the airplane flying “erratically” with flames emitting from the left engine, but did not remember seeing smoke in the sky or smoke emitting from the airplane. Another witness near the accident site, reported that the airplane was "sputtering" and "popping" as it flew over his home.
Postaccident examination showed that the airplane descended through trees and was highly fragmented and mostly consumed by fire. Both propellers had indications consistent with low amounts of rotational energy. The right engine propeller blades were at a blade angle near feather pitch at impact and the left engine propeller blades appeared to be fully feathered. All engine control levers were found full forward except the left engine propeller lever, which was full aft.
Additional examination revealed the right magneto installed on the left engine would not rotate due to a failed bearing. The failure signatures were indicative of a loss of lubrication in the bearing. It is likely the airplane experienced at least a partial loss of engine power in the left engine as a result. The evidence is consistent with the pilot attempting to shut down the left engine due to the failed magneto and failing to maintain single-engine flight resulting in an impact with trees and terrain.
Both engine exhaust systems were in an unairworthy condition due to very thin metal, holes, cracks, and signs of oxidative degradation. Exhaust leaks can result in an inflight fire. However, the post-impact fire prevented determination if an inflight fire occurred and the witness testimony of flames coming from the engine could not be verified.
Probable cause
Improper maintenance that led to a loss of engine power due to a failed left engine magneto, the pilot’s improper application of single engine emergency procedures, and his failure to maintain control of the airplane which resulted in a collision with trees.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record CEN20LA256
- Event ID
- 20200701X52913
- Case number
- CEN20LA256
- Dataset
- full-current
- Source SHA-256
- 5cf380f0061817c0331a6b2d8cc7e0ee3a79bea469a1001dc5c10e56f35f5ab3
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, cause areas. 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: 80d0decaaf6b1bd02c93bf653de260aa1741cff8a174b87b587051486809cc96; retrieved 2026-09-15T07:16:46.279Z.