Piper PA28 N2184X

Summary

On 26 February 2019 at about 23:35 local time, a Piper PA28 registered N2184X was involved in an accident near Louisville, Kentucky, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

26 February 2019 at 23:35

Classification

Accident

Location

Louisville, Kentucky, United States

Nearest airport

Bowman Field Airport (LOU)

Coordinates

38.2281, -85.6636

Aircraft

Piper PA28

Registration

N2184X

Category

Airplane

Year built

1979

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Louisville → Lexington

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

ERA19LA109

Nobody was injured.

The failure of the magnetos due to a known deficiency, which resulted in a partial loss of engine power. Contributing to the accident was maintenance personnel’s failure to comply with the applicable service bulletin.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to the pilot, the airplane accelerated normally during the takeoff roll, became airborne, and the engine started to run "rough." He elected to land straight ahead on the remaining runway. The airplane subsequently overran the runway and collided with the perimeter fence. Examination of the airplane revealed it sustained substantial damage to the airframe. During an examination of the left magneto, two ignition wires in the distributor cap revealed evidence of arcing, and one ignition lead was found detached from the insulator and spring. The right magneto was removed, rotated, and produced spark at each spark lead. The metal copper electrode on the right magneto distributor gear was found loose. To address a potential decreased service life of Slick 4-cylinder magneto distributor gear assemblies, Slick/Champion Aerospace Service Bulletin SB1-15A calls for replacing distributor gear assemblies that have a copper electrode with assemblies that have a Monel electrode. A rough running engine was a symptom of the condition that the SB was intended to address. A review of the accident airplane’s maintenance logbooks revealed no entries for the repair of the magnetos or compliance with the applicable SB and that the airplane received three annual inspections since the release and the revision of the SB.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.