Skip to content

LAX85FA078

1984-12-20 · CORONA, California, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport L66

Aircraft involved

Factual narrative

DURING MAINT OF THE ENG, & JUST BEFORE THE ANNUAL INSPECTION WAS SIGNED OFF, SOMEONE PARTIALLY LOOSENED & THEN ATTEMPTED TO TIGHTEN THE BOLT SECURING THE CRANKSHAFT GEAR TO THE CRANKSHAFT. THE OLD LOCKPLATE WAS NOT REPLACED & WAS NOT PROPERLY SECURED ABOUT THE BOLT. AS A RESULT OF A LOOSE BOLT THE DOWEL PIN, ALIGNING THE GEAR WITH THE CRANKSHAFT, THE GEAR SHIFTED POSITION & THE ENGINE STOPPED. THE PLT FAILED TO LOWER THE WING FLAPS, & STRUCK A DIRT DITCH SHORT OF HIS INTENDED EMERG LANDING SITE. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1984_LAX85FA078.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Search this event elsewhere

External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.