Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Philadelphia Intl Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19153
Thursday, August 17, 1995 18:27 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The turboprop airplane was standing on the taxiway awaiting takeoff. The flightcrew had feathered the left propeller, and was using the left engine high-pressure bleed air for running the airplane's air conditioners. While standing, several warning lights illuminated, and the crew determined that they had a fire in the vicinity of the left engine. The engines were shut down, and the airplane was evacuated. Examination of the wing revealed that a titanium flap line, between the wing and flap panel, had failed for an undetermined reason. After the line separated, it broke two electrical wires, struck a bolt end, and the MIL-5606 hydraulic oil caught on fire. Flightcrews had experienced previous false bleed air leak lights. The airplane manufacturer stated that the compartment temperature where the fire erupted should have been no higher then 70 degrees C. The bleed air leak warning lights were activated by 204 degree C sensors. The MIL-5606 flash point was 110 degrees C. The use of a feathered engine to power air conditioners was the engine manufacturer's procedure. The procedure was not in the airplane manual, but was approved by the FAA Principal Operation Inspector.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the failure of a titanium hydraulic line, which resulted in an uncontained hydraulic fluid wing fire. A factor was the use of a procedure by the operator, approved by the FAA, but not approved by the airplane manufacturer, which resulted in compartment temperatures reaching 204 degrees C, where the failed line sprayed the hydraulic fluid.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/17/1995 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1827 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | PHILADELPHIA |
| Event State | PENNSYLVANIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 19153 |
| Event Date Year | 1995 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | PHILADELPHIA INTL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PHL |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 121 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1851 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PHL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 121 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 20000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 32 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 23 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 70 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 31 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1607 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 17 1995 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1900 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 7 2000 4:31PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N742BA |
| NTSB Number | NYC95LA197 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 121: Air Carrier |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Saab-Scania AB (Saab) |
| Aircraft Model | SF-340-A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | SF-340-A |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 340A-092 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 28000 |
| 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 | 37 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 12 1995 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 265 |
| Airframe Hours | 16806 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | FIRST FINANCIAL CENTER |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | ONE FINANCIAL CENTER |
| Aircraft Owner City | BOSTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | MA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 02111 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | BUSINESS EXPRESS AIRLINES |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 14 AVIATION AVENUE |
| Operator City | PORTSMOUTH |
| Operator State | NH |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 03801 |
| Operator Code | PLGA |
| 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 | Scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | PHL |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 0 |
| Departure Time Zone | |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | JFK |
| Destination City | JAMAICA |
| Destination State | NY |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Standing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |