Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Burlington, Kansas 66839
Thursday, November 20, 1997 8:30 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot said they were about 40 minutes into their flight when 'my passenger and I heard the pneumatic door seal give way.' He recycled the switch, but nothing happened. A few minutes later, the pilot and passenger noticed 'the faint smell of electrical burn.' The pilot switched the heater off and the smell seemed to subside. He switched the heater back on and noticed a stronger smell immediately. Black smoke began to enter the cabin from above and beneath the instrument panel. The pilot said that as he reached for the throttle, he noticed 'that there was orange spark and flame under the panel.' He initiated a steep descent and began looking for a place to land. He located a north-south running dirt road, and initiated a 180-degree turn to land. The pilot overshot the road and decided that he didn't have enough altitude and airspeed to maneuver back to the road. He leveled the airplane and landed in a field. During the landing, the airplane encountered uneven (rising) terrain and trees. An exam of the airplane revealed the door seal inflation pump was heavily charred. An exam of the cabin revealed the door inflation seal around the cabin door was missing, both forward air vents were in the open position, and plastic insulation surrounding electrical wiring in front of the right air vent was melted. Melted plastic was observed on the floor, beneath the right side air vent. No other anomaly was found.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
an undetermined event resulting in the door seal inflation pump catching fire, the pilot's failure to close the cockpit air vents allowing heat and flames from the airplane's nose section to melt electrical wiring behind the instrument panel, and the pilot overshooting the road during his precautionary landing. A factor contributing to this accident was the trees.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/20/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 830 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | BURLINGTON |
| Event State | KANSAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 66839 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 853 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 280 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | EMP |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1206 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 19 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| 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) | 8 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 6 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 16 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 0 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 640 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 20 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 930 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:40PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3681K |
| NTSB Number | CHI98LA041 |
| 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 | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | 95-B55 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 95-B55 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | TC-2339 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5100 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 7 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 107 |
| Airframe Hours | 3077 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | SABLE TECHNOLOGIES, INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 224 S. 2ND ST., STE P |
| Aircraft Owner City | ROGERS |
| Aircraft Owner State | AR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 72756 |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | ROG |
| Departure City | ROGERS |
| Departure State | AR |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 745 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | CNK |
| Destination City | CONCORDIA |
| Destination State | KS |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| 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 | -- |