Piper PA-28-180 N9375J accident near San Andreas, California

Probable cause

A loss of engine power for undetermined reasons.

NTSB analysis

The airplane had recently undergone extensive maintenance; the accident flight was a return leg to the pilot’s home airport after having flown the first leg earlier in the day. The initial departure was normal, and when reaching about 300 ft above ground level (agl), the engine suddenly lost power. The pilot attempted to return to the runway, but the airplane could not maintain altitude. The pilot performed an off-airport landing, and the airplane impacted terrain.

A postaccident examination of the airplane and engine revealed no evidence of preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures. The carburetor was replaced two days before the accident; the examination did not find anomalies with the carburetor. There was no fuel found in the carburetor bowl, but it could not be determined if that was the condition at the time of impact or if the fuel system could deliver metered fuel to the engine. While the FAA's Carburetor Icing Chart revealed the probability of serious icing between cruise and glide power for the reported temperature and dew point conditions, the investigation could not conclusively determine that carburetor ice caused the loss of engine power.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for WPR23LA121 for the full record.