Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Luis Munoz Marin Intl. Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
San Juan
Sunday, May 11, 1997 19:34 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane was taxiing for departure on taxiway 'N', when a smell fuel was detected in the cabin. About the same time, the crew of a commuter flight taxiing behind, the DC-10, reported that the right engine was on fire. The crew saw the smoke from the cockpit window, the captain stopped the airplane, shut the engines down, and order an evacuation. Crash fire rescue equipment was used to put out the fire. Examination of the right engine [No.3] revealed that the fuel/oil heat exchanger (part number 158210-11) had failed as a result of fretting wear between the baffle plate and the retaining slots in the casing, causing a fuel leak. There was no damage to the engine or the airframe. According to a passenger's description of the evacuation there was general panic in the cabin, passengers screamed and pushed to get out. Some passengers had not cleared the bottom of the escape chute, because no one was at the bottom of the chute to help people stand up and move out of the way promptly. After evacuating the airplane passengers were standing around on the tarmac and did not know were to go, because nobody was directing passengers away from the plane. Some passengers were standing near the bottom of the chute, and others were moving away in all possible directions.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
an on ground engine fire in the No. 3 (right) engine resulting from a failed heat exchanger, and subsequent fuel leak. A factor in this accident was the cabin crew's improper handling of the evacuation which resulted in serious injury to a passenger.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/11/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1934 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | SAN JUAN |
| Event State | PUERTO RICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 00937 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | LUIS MUNOZ MARIN INTL. |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SJU |
| 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 | 10 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | 0 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 22 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 120 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 2 |
| 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 | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 262 |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 6000 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 11 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1957 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:17PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | GNIUK |
| NTSB Number | MIA97LA159 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 129: Foreign |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | None |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | McDonnell Douglas |
| Aircraft Model | DC-10-30 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | DC-10-30 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 46932 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 570801 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | Foreign Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 263 |
| Number of Engines | 3 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 59751 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | FLYING COLOURS AIRLINES INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 81 FARRINGTON ST |
| Aircraft Owner City | LONDON |
| Aircraft Owner State | OF |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 00000 |
| 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 | F7JF |
| 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 | Scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | International |
| 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 | |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1915 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | LGW |
| Destination City | GATWICK |
| Destination State | OF |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Taxi |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 20 2002 12:42PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 8 |
| Runway Length | 10002 |
| Runway Width | 200 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |