Event ERA17LA340

Factual narrative

On September 28, 2017, about 1921 eastern daylight time, an experimental Waco UPF 7, N29909, sustained substantial damage during a forced landing to wooded terrain after a total loss of engine power about 1.5 miles south of the Woods and Lakes Airpark (FA38), near Ocklawaha, Florida. The commercial pilot/owner sustained minor injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the local flight conducted under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The flight originated at the Hobby Hill Airport (2FD1), Weirsdale, Florida, about 1855. The pilot stated that while maneuvering, the engine magneto indicator illuminated and one of the engine's magnetos failed followed shortly after by the other magneto, resulting in a total loss of engine power. He said that he tried to reach FA38, but realized he was not going to make it so he "surfed" the airplane into the treetops. The pilot said he made a successful landing and the airplane came to rest gently in the trees before it nosed over and fell 60 ft to the ground and came to rest on its nose with the tail section sticking straight up in the air. There was damage to the top and bottom wings and the firewall. A friend of the pilot, who was also a pilot and an airframe and powerplant mechanic, heard the airplane fly over his home. He said the airplane's engine hesitated, then stopped, and tried to re-start before it went silent. The friend drove to FA38 and saw that the airplane did not land, so he drove in the direction he last saw the airplane and found it had landed in heavily wooded terrain about a mile from the airport. After calling 911, the friend approached the airplane and later advised the fire department to turn the master switch off to prevent a fire due to the presence of gasoline fumes. The airplane was equipped with an experimental Vedeneyev M14-P radial engine. Examination of the magnetos by M-14P, Inc. in Kingman, Arizona, revealed that both magnetos had "bad (out of range on impedance)" secondary windings on the coil. The points exhibited a white powder, consistent with the capacitor in the secondary windings of each magneto failing or had failed. Both rotors were cracked and the pencil springs in both distributor caps were rusted. Damage was also noted to several of the ignition leads (left magneto had 3 faulty leads, and the right magneto had 1 faulty lead). An automotive ignition harness was installed on the magnetos as part of an approved automotive conversion kit. According to a representative of M14-P, Inc., the auto ignition wire has a higher amount of resistance that the magnetos were not designed to handle. The last engine, airframe, and propeller conditional inspection was conducted on October 13, 2016. At the time of the accident, the airplane, engine, and propeller had accrued a total of 331 since new. The magnetos were installed new and had a total of 331 hours. The pilot held a commercial certificate for airplane single-engine land and sea, and instrument airplane. His last Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) second-class medical was issued on October 6, 2016. The pilot reported a total of 2,725 flight hours, of which, 723 hours were in the same make/model as the accident airplane. Weather at The Villages (VVG), The Villages, Florida, about 11 miles south of the accident site, at 1930, was reported as calm wind, visibility 10 miles, and clear skies. The commercial pilot stated that, while maneuvering during the local flight, the engine magneto indicator illuminated and one of the engine's magnetos failed, followed shortly after by the other magneto, which resulted in a total loss of engine power. The pilot landed the airplane in a stand of trees before it nosed over, fell 60 ft to the ground, and came to rest on its nose with the tail section in the air; the airplane sustained damage to the top and bottom wings and the firewall. Postaccident examination of the magnetos revealed that both magnetos had "bad (out of range on impedance)" secondary windings on the coil. The points exhibited a white powder, consistent with the capacitor in the secondary windings of each magneto failing or having failed. Both rotors were cracked, and the pencil springs in both distributor caps were rusted. Damage was also noted to several of the ignition leads (the left magneto had three faulty leads, and the right magneto had one faulty lead). An automotive ignition harness was installed on the magnetos as part of an approved automotive conversion kit; the examination representative indicated that the auto ignition wire has a higher amount of resistance that the magnetos were not designed to handle. Thus, it is likely that some combination of these deficiencies ultimately resulted in the in-flight failure of the magnetos and the subsequent loss of engine power. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).

• C Aircraft-Aircraft power plant-Engine (reciprocating)-(general)-Failure - C
• C Aircraft-Aircraft power plant-Ignition system-Magneto/distributor-Failure - C
• — Environmental issues-Physical environment-Object/animal/substance-Tree(s)-Contributed to outcome