In all my years of flying I have had a great number of planes crash due to radio failure. I have never had one crash due to a cyrstal failure nor have I heard of one. I am sure that it can and has happened, although I would not put it on the top of my list to be damaged in a crash. I would highly recomend that you or the orignal owner send the radio back to JR for a check up. I know that this cost's money, however it could prevent an even more expensive crash. Work out a deal with the seller to see if you can split the cost's. Hope this helps, Dave.