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NYC91LA104

1991-04-07 · MAHOPAC, New York, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE ERRATIC PERFORMANCE OF THE LEFT MAGNETO RESULTING IN INADEQUATE CLIMB CAPABILITIES AND IN FLIGHT COLLISION WITH TERRAIN.

Factual narrative

DURING AN INITIATED GO-AROUND AT MAHOPAC AIRPORT, MAHOPAC, NEW YORK, THE ENGINE EXPERIENCED PARTIAL POWER LOSS. FULL POWER COULD NOT BE DEVELOPED RESULTING IN DETERIORATED CLIMB CAPABILITIES. THE AIRPLANE COULD NOT CLEAR RISING TERRAIN AND HIT TREETOPS, EVENTUALLY CONTACTING THE GROUND. POST ACCIDENT EXAMINATION OF THE ENGINE REVEALED THAT THE LEFT MAGNETO WAS EXCESSIVELY WORN AND DETERIORATED CAUSING THE SPARKS TO BE ERRATICALLY DISPLACED TO THE SPARK PLUGS. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1991_NYC91LA104.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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