Yucca Valley Airport, Yucca Valley, California
Location: The Yucca Valley Airport is
located 3 miles east of Yucca Valley, California.
History:
Yucca Valley Airport Today: Yucca Valley
Airport is a residential airpark;
Airport
Services and Amenities: K and J Aircraft Maintenance, Inc.; Rentals
cars; Food and lodging within 1 mile;
Special Events and
Attractions: Joshua Tree National Park;
Airport
Area Accident History:
Accident occurred Friday, December 31, 2004 in Yucca
Valley, CA
Probable Cause Approval Date: 2/28/2006
Aircraft: Orr Long-Ez, registration: N321EZ
Injuries: 2 Uninjured.
The airplane collided with power lines during a
forced landing on a road following a total loss of engine power. The pilot
entered a mountain pass area east of his destination at 3,500 feet mean sea
level, westbound. Due to lowering ceilings, turbulence, and rain, the pilot
performed an 180-degree reverse course to the high desert , and another
possible route into the Los Angeles basin and his destination. Soon after
the course reversal, the pilot noted an engine sound decrease and loss of
engine rpm. As he reached the edge of the high desert, the engine shutdown
abruptly. He turned toward a nearby airport, and observed a popped circuit
breaker for the electronic ignition system . He reset the breaker and the
engine went to full power for about 5 or 10 seconds, and then the breaker
popped again. He turned off the electronic ignition system to check the
redundancy of the left magneto, which was also inoperative. The pilot
reported that during the course
reversal while in the rain showers , he observed
rainwater entering the cockpit and instrument panel area around the magneto
switches and electronic ignition circuit breaker. He felt that the source of
the ignition failure was due to the shorting of the magneto switch from the
rainwater.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines the
probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:
a loss of engine power due to ignition system
failure due to rain water grounding/shorting of the magneto switches.
Yucca Valley
Airport Approach /
Landing:
