Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Greater Buffalo Intl Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Buffalo, New York 14225
Thursday, April 3, 1997 19:55 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
While being vectored for the final approach in visual conditions, at night, the flight crew lost radio contact with the control tower and smelled smoke aboard the airplane. They continued the approach and landed, and after reaching their parking space, were notified by ground personnel of flames penetrating the top of the aft fuselage between the engines. The fire was extinguished by airport fire fighting personnel. Postaccident investigation found a hydraulic return line in the aft equipment bay had evidence of electrical arcing and a small hole through which fluid could escape. An 115-volt electrical line used to heat the horizontal stabilizer also had evidence of rubbing on its surface. In addition to the hydraulic fluid, a pressurized fuel line to the APU was damaged by the fire and leaking fuel. A test simulating an electrical line arcing with a leaking hydraulic line resulted in a fire during each of the three tests. The production standards that Cessna used did not specify a minimum space between electrical lines and flammable fluid lines. The FAA had certified the airplane without requiring Cessna to specify a minimum spacing between electrical lines and flammable fluid lines.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A combination hydraulic fluid and fuel-fed fire which originated from electrical arcing, due to the lack of an adequate production standard from Cessna for the separation of flammable fluid lines and electrical lines. A factor was the lack of oversight from the FAA, which allowed Cessna to space the flammable fluid lines and electrical lines at too close a position.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/3/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1955 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | BUFFALO |
| Event State | NEW YORK |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 14225 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | GREATER BUFFALO INTL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | BUF |
| 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 | 724 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1954 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BUF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 724 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 6000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4700 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| 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) | 9 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 240 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 993 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 4 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 716 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:14PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N553AC |
| NTSB Number | NYC97LA068 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | In-flight |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 650 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 650 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 198 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 22200 |
| 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 | 10 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 13 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 59 |
| Airframe Hours | 2128 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MERCURY COMMUNICATIONS INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 5 WEST 3RD STREET |
| Aircraft Owner City | COUDERSPORT |
| Aircraft Owner State | PA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 16915 |
| 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 | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| 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) | Executive/Corporate |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | ELZ |
| Departure City | WELLSVILLE |
| Departure State | NY |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1930 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | BUF |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| 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 | 23 |
| Runway Length | 8102 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |