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LAX93LA051

1992-11-22 · SANTA MARIA, California, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport SMX

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

1) THE INTERNAL FAILURE OF THE LEFT ENGINE, LEFT MAGNETO DUE TO INADEQUATE MAINTENANCE AND NON COMPLIANCE WITH THE MANUFACTURERS SERVICE BULLETINS AND RECOMMENDATIONS, AND 2) THE FAILURE OF THE PILOT TO ATTAIN THE PROPER TOUCHDOWN POINT DURING THE LANDING ATTEMPT. FACTORS IN THE ACCIDENT WERE THE INABILITY OF THE PILOT TO SHUT OFF THE LEFT MAGNETO AND THE FALSE LANDING GEAR INDICATIONS, BOTH FOR UNDETERMINED REASONS.

Factual narrative

TWELVE MINUTES AFTER DEPARTURE, THE LEFT ENGINE BEGAN TO RUN ROUGH & VIBRATE. THE PILOT SAID HE COULD NOT CORRECT THE PROBLEM & SHUT THE LEFT ENGINE DOWN. NO EMERGENCY WAS DECLARED & THE PILOT TOLD ATC THAT HE WOULD CONTINUE TO HIS DESTINATION, 210 NM & 1.5 HOURS AWAY. THE PILOT OVERFLEW 5 AIRPORTS WITH RUNWAYS OVER 5,000 FT LONG & A MOUNTAIN RANGE. THE PILOT EXECUTED A VOR APPROACH & ENTERED AN EXTENDED DOWNWIND PATTERN. ON SHORT FINAL THE PILOT EXECUTED A GO AROUND BECAUSE HE DID NOT GET ANY GEAR DOWN INDICATIONS. HE THEN MANEUVERED FOR A DOWNWIND LANDING ON RUNWAY 12. THE AIRCRAFT HIT THE GROUND 100 YARDS SHORT OF THE RUNWAY, THEN COLLIDED WITH A DITCH & THE AIRPORT FENCE. AN FAA INSPECTOR SAID THERE WERE THREE CLEAR TIRE TRACKS FROM THE POINT OF TOUCHDOWN TO THE DITCH, WHERE THE GEAR WAS SHEARED OFF. HE FOUND NO PROBLEMS WITH THE GEAR SYSTEM. EXAM OF THE LEFT ENGINE REVEALED A LEFT MAGNETO INTERNAL FAILURE DUE TO LACK OF LUBRICATION & WEAR, WHICH CAUSED CYLINDER CROSS FIRING. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1992_LAX93LA051.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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