ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 294241
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| Date: | Friday 31 December 2004 |
| Time: | 14:30 LT |
| Type: |  Rutan Long-EZ |
| Owner/operator: | David A C Orr |
| Registration: | N321EZ |
| MSN: | 1463 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 212 hours |
| Engine model: | Lycoming O-320 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Yucca Valley, California -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Unknown |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Punta Pescadero |
| Chino Airport, CA (CNO/KCNO) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The airplane collided with power lines during a forced landing on a road following a total loss of engine power. The pilot entered a mountain pass area east of his destination at 3,500 feet mean sea level, westbound. Due to lowering ceilings, turbulence, and rain, the pilot performed an 180-degree reverse course to the high desert, and another possible route into the Los Angeles basin and his destination. Soon after the course reversal, the pilot noted an engine sound decrease and loss of engine rpm. As he reached the edge of the high desert, the engine shutdown abruptly. He turned toward a nearby airport, and observed a popped circuit breaker for the electronic ignition system. He reset the breaker and the engine went to full power for about 5 or 10 seconds, and then the breaker popped again. He turned off the electronic ignition system to check the redundancy of the left magneto, which was also inoperative. The pilot reported that during the course reversal while in the rain showers, he observed rainwater entering the cockpit and instrument panel area around the magneto switches and electronic ignition circuit breaker. He felt that the source of the ignition failure was due to the shorting of the magneto switch from the rainwater.
Probable Cause: a loss of engine power due to ignition system failure due to rain water grounding/shorting of the magneto switches.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB LAX05LA057
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 11-Oct-2022 04:52 | ASN Update Bot | Added |
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