American AA-1A N12YT

Summary

On 15 May 2020 at about 20:57 local time, a American AA-1A registered N12YT was involved in an accident near Blythe, California, United States. One person was on board and one was seriously injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

15 May 2020 at 20:57

Classification

Accident

Location

Blythe, California, United States

Nearest airport

Blythe (BLH)

Coordinates

33.6169, -114.7061

Aircraft

American AA-1A

Registration

N12YT

Category

Airplane

Year built

1972

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Blythe → Tucson

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR20LA148

1 person was seriously injured.

The excessive wear of one magneto’s wiring harness, which resulted in a loss of engine power during takeoff. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s failure to maintain airspeed following the loss of engine power, which resulted in exceedance of the critical angle of attack and a subsequent aerodynamic stall. 

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was departing for a personal cross-county flight. Shortly after takeoff and about 50 ft above ground level, the engine lost partial power, and the airspeed decayed. Despite the pilot attempts to gain airspeed by confirming that the throttle and mixture levers were full forward, he did not lower the airplane’s nose at the first indication of an engine power loss to maintain airspeed. As a result, the airplane’s critical angle of attack was exceeded, and the airplane subsequently stalled and struck terrain. Review of performance data in the pilot’s operating manual for the airplane indicated that given the accident conditions, the airplane should have had the performance to adequately climb. A weather study revealed no significant weather in the immediate vicinity of the airport. Postaccident examination of the engine revealed that the left magneto’s wiring harness had excessive wear from being twisted and zip-tied near the distributor cap. All four wires were noted to have exposed center conductors that contacted their shielding. When tested, the wires intermittently failed to conduct current and sporadically arced, which likely resulted in the loss of engine power after takeoff.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.