Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Fresno Air Terminal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Fresno, California 93727
Wednesday, December 14, 1994 11:46 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
AT ABOUT 1146 PST, LEARJET 35A, N521PA, OPERATING AS A PUBLIC USE AIRCRAFT, CRASHED IN FRESNO, CA. OPERATING WITH CALL SIGN DART 21, THE FLIGHTCREW HAD DECLARED AN EMERGENCY INBOUND TO FRESNO AIR TERMINAL DUE TO ENGINE FIRE INDICATIONS. THEY FLEW THE AIRPLANE TOWARD A RIGHT BASE FOR THEIR REQUESTED RUNWAY, BUT THE AIRPLANE CONTINUED PAST THE AIRPORT. THE FLIGHTCREW WAS HEARD ON TOWER FREQUENCY ATTEMPTING TO DIAGNOSE THE EMERGENCY CONDITIONS AND CONTROL THE AIRPLANE UNTIL IT CRASHED, WITH LANDING GEAR DOWN, ON AN AVENUE IN FRESNO. BOTH PILOTS WERE FATALLY INJURED. TWENTY-ONE PERSONS ON THE GROUND WERE INJURED, AND 12 APARTMENT UNITS IN 2 BUILDINGS WERE DESTROYED OR SUBSTANTIALLY DAMAGED BY IMPACT OR FIRE. INVESTIGATION REVEALED THAT SPECIAL MISSION WIRING WAS NOT INSTALLED PROPERLY, LEADING TO A LACK OF OVERLOAD CURRENT PROTECTION. THE IN-FLIGHT FIRE MOST LIKELY ORIGINATED WITH A SHORT OF THE SPECIAL MISSION POWER SUPPLY WIRES IN AN AREA UNPROTECTED BY CURRENT LIMITERS. THE FIRE RESULTED IN FALSE ENGINE FIRE WARNING INDICATIONS TO THE PILOTS THAT LED THEM TO A SHUTDOWN OF THE LEFT ENGINE. AN INTENSE FIRE BURNED THROUGH THE AFT ENGINE SUPPORT BEAM, DAMAGING THE AIRPLANE STRUCTURE AND SYSTEMS IN THE AFT FUSELAGE AND MAY HAVE PRECLUDED A SUCCESSFUL EMERGENCY LANDING. (FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, SEE NTSB/AAR-95/04)
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
1) IMPROPERLY INSTALLED ELECTRICAL WIRING FOR SPECIAL MISSION OPERATIONS THAT LED TO AN IN-FLIGHT FIRE THAT CAUSED AIRPLANE SYSTEMS AND STRUCTURAL DAMAGE AND SUBSEQUENT AIRPLANE CONTROL DIFFICULTIES; 2) IMPROPER MAINTENANCE AND INSPECTION PROCEDURES FOLLOWED BY THE OPERATOR; AND 3) INADEQUATE OVERSIGHT AND APPROVAL OF THE MAINTENANCE AND INSPECTION PRACTICE BY THE OPERATOR IN THE INSTALLATION OF THE SPECIAL MISSION SYSTEMS.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/14/1994 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1146 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | FRESNO |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93727 |
| Event Date Year | 1994 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | FRESNO AIR TERMINAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | FAT |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 2 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 220 |
| Airport Elevation | 333 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1150 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 40 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FAT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 333 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 2 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 10000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 6000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 20 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 9 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 120 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 20 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 1 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | 20 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 23 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1986 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 14 1994 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1700 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 16 2002 1:13PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\HAMG |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N521PA |
| NTSB Number | DCA95MA007 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Public Use |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR/IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | In-flight |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | LEARJET |
| Aircraft Model | 35A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 35A |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 239 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 17000 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 14 1994 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 50 |
| Airframe Hours | 6673 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | PHOENIX AIR GROUP, INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 100 PHOENIX AIR DRIVE, S.W. |
| Aircraft Owner City | CARTERSVILLE |
| Aircraft Owner State | GA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 30120 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | ESPA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | Unknown |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Unknown |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Unknown |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Public Use |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | FAT |
| Departure City | -- |
| Departure State | -- |
| Departure Country | -- |
| Departure Time | 1030 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | FAT |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 16 2002 1:13PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\HAMG |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 29R |
| Runway Length | 9222 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |