Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Dominicci Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Dorado
Thursday, October 31, 1996 3:30 AST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
After takeoff from runway 9, a climbing left turn was made. At about 1,000 feet, the #2 (right) engine backfired, emitted flames, & lost power. The captain instructed the copilot to feather the #2 propeller, which the copilot initiated with the feathering button. When the captain requested gear & flap extension, the copilot released the feathering button which did not remain engaged, contrary to system design. The airplane had arrived on a left downwind abeam the landing area at 500 feet & 95 to 100 kts. The captain turned toward the runway, then he ordered the gear & flaps to be retracted & initiated a go-around by increasing the left throttle without increasing propeller speed. A right turn was then made, & the airplane eventually crashed about 3 miles from the runway. During a postaccident examination, the propellers were found unfeathered, & the right engine fuel selector was in the main tank position. The emergency procedure listed the best single engine speed as 85 kts. The procedure for engine fire/failure was to feather the propeller & to move the respective fuel selector to 'OFF.' Examination revealed the number 11 cylinder on the right engine was cracked. There was evidence of fire, adjacent to the cylinder on the cowling, which consisted of scorching, sooting, & a burned through area of the underside of the right engine cowling. The copilot indicated a previous problem with the feathering system, but maintenance records did not contain any previous discrepancies regarding this anomaly.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
failure of the #11 cylinder on the right (#2) engine, which resulted in an in-flight fire and loss of power in that engine; and a malfunction/failure of the #2 feathering system, which led to a subsequent forced landing before the flight crew could return to the airport. A factor related to the accident was failure of the flight crew to increase the left (#1) engine rpm (in accordance with emergency procedures) after loss of power in the #2 engine.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/31/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 330 |
| Event Time Zone | Atlantic Standard Time |
| Event City | DORADO |
| Event State | PUERTO RICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 00936 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | DOMINICCI |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SIG |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 4 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 260 |
| Airport Elevation | 10 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 458 Atlantic Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 280 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SJU |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 10 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | AST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Bright |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 23 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| 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 | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1575 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 31 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 558 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 10:24AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N37AP |
| NTSB Number | ATL97LA012 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | In-flight |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Douglas |
| Aircraft Model | C-47 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | C-47 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 4430 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 26000 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 28 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 7 |
| Airframe Hours | 16179 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | AIR CHARTER, INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | POST OFFICE BOX 1208 |
| Aircraft Owner City | TRUJILLO ALTO |
| Aircraft Owner State | PR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 00760 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | FLAMENCO AIRWAYS, INC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | POST OFFICE BOX 224 |
| Operator City | CULEBRA |
| Operator State | PR |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 00755 |
| Operator Code | FLMA |
| 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 | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | SIG |
| Departure City | SAN JUAN |
| Departure State | PR |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 330 |
| Departure Time Zone | AST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | SJU |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | PR |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency landing |
| 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 | 27 |
| Runway Length | 4820 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |