American Aviation AA-1A accident near Blythe, California, May 15, 2020

The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record

The pilot was departing for a personal cross-county flight. Shortly after takeoff and about 50 ft above ground level, the engine lost partial power, and the airspeed decayed. Despite the pilot attempts to gain airspeed by confirming that the throttle and mixture levers were full forward, he did not lower the airplane’s nose at the first indication of an engine power loss to maintain airspeed. As a result, the airplane’s critical angle of attack was exceeded, and the airplane subsequently stalled and struck terrain. Review of performance data in the pilot’s operating manual for the airplane indicated that given the accident conditions, the airplane should have had the performance to adequately climb. A weather study revealed no significant weather in the immediate vicinity of the airport. Postaccident examination of the engine revealed that the left magneto’s wiring harness had excessive wear from being twisted and zip-tied near the distributor cap. All four wires were noted to have exposed center conductors that contacted their shielding. When tested, the wires intermittently failed to conduct current and sporadically arced, which likely resulted in the loss of engine power after takeoff.

The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.