20150222019919I

Incident · No damage

FAA incident report · Piper PA-30 · Cottonwood, AZ · February 22, 2015

Date: February 22, 2015 · 08:59 local
Place: Cottonwood, AZ
Airport: Cottonwood
Phase of flight: Cruise/Level Flight
Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
Damage: No damage
Aircraft: N57DJ
Reported as: Piper PA-30
People aboard: 2
Fatal injuries: 0
Other injuries: 0
Pilot’s certificate: Airline transport
Pilot’s flight hours: 21,000 total200 in this make and model200 in the last 90 days

N57DJRegistered now · Piper PA-30S/N 30-1292 Airframe modelPiper PA-30

From the FAA’s Accident/Incident Data System (AIDS), through its Aviation Safety Information Portal, as reported. The NTSB investigates accidents separately, and its record of an accident is the fuller one. The aircraft is matched to the registry by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

What happened

The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.

Aircraft was on cross country from falcon field (mesa, AZ.) To st. george, Utah when the pilot attempted to contact albuquerque center for an IFR clearance. The radios began working intermittently and the pilot stated he was having an electrical failure. After cancelling the IFR request the pilot opted to land at Cottonwood to investigate the electrical issue.

The aircraft landed successfully at Cottonwood with no damage to the aircraft.

Thru evaluation of the electrical system the pilot was able to isolate the problem down to an intermittent avionics master switch. Maintenance replaced the old avionics master switch with a new switch. The aircraft has flown since this maintenance and has experienced no further electrical or avionic issues.

As the FAA filed it

AIRCRAFT WAS ON CROSS COUNTRY FROM FALCON FIELD (MESA, AZ.) TO ST. GEORGE, UTAH WHEN THE PILOT ATTEMPTED TO CONTACT ALBUQUERQUE CENTER FOR AN IFR CLEARANCE. THE RADIOS BEGAN WORKING INTERMITTENTLY AND THE PILOT STATED HE WAS HAVING AN ELECTRICAL FAILURE. AFTER CANCELLING THE IFR REQUEST THE PILOT OPTED TO LAND AT COTTONWOOD TO INVESTIGATE THE ELECTRICAL ISSUE.

THE AIRCRAFT LANDED SUCCESSFULLY AT COTTONWOOD WITH NO DAMAGE TO THE AIRCRAFT.

THRU EVALUATION OF THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM THE PILOT WAS ABLE TO ISOLATE THE PROBLEM DOWN TO AN INTERMITTENT AVIONICS MASTER SWITCH. MAINTENANCE REPLACED THE OLD AVIONICS MASTER SWITCH WITH A NEW SWITCH. THE AIRCRAFT HAS FLOWN SINCE THIS MAINTENANCE AND HAS EXPERIENCED NO FURTHER ELECTRICAL OR AVIONIC ISSUES.