N2920QPiper PA-32R-300 · 1977

On October 21, 2018, at 1444 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-32R-300 airplane, N2920Q, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Indianapolis, Indiana. The pilot was not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 personal flight.

The pilot reported that he was about 4 miles north of his destination airport, at 1,000 ft above ground level (agl), when the engine experienced a complete loss of power. He attempted to restart the engine, but was unsuccessful, and chose to perform a forced landing in a parking lot. During the landing roll, the airplane struck a curb, and the wing impacted a tree.

During examination of the engine, a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector manually rotated the single-drive dual magneto drive shaft, and the magneto failed to produce spark on any of its leads. Review of maintenance logbooks revealed that the magneto was overhauled and tested on February 8, 2018 and had accumulated 87 hours since the overhaul.

The magneto was examined and tested, during which the impulse coupling was rotated by hand and the magneto timing was tested using a timing light. When the impulse coupling was rotated to neutral position, contact points were open when they should have been closed. When impulse coupling was rotated counterclockwise about 8° to the L mark, the timing light indicated that contact points were closed when they should have been open. The magneto camshaft was displaced when viewed through magneto timing port. When the cam was positioned to neutral, the points were opened instead of being closed. When the camshaft was rotated approximately 8°, the points should have opened, but they closed at that position. Such displacement of the camshaft would cause the magneto not to produce spark. The magneto was disassembled, inspected, and reassembled, with the cam shaft installed per the manufacturer’s specifications, and when subsequently tested, it produced sparks on all leads.