Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Lafayette Rgnl Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Lafayette, Louisiana 70505
Monday, February 23, 1998 10:38 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane was substantially damaged during an in-flight fire and gear up landing. The pilot reported that he had 'not gone more than eight miles from the airport, when [he] started to smell smoke.' He observed white smoke coming from under the instrument panel on the co-pilot's side and 'shortly' thereafter the engine 'began to surge.' The pilot was unable to extend the gear using the gear selector switch and began using the emergency gear pump. As he was attempting to pump the gear down he noticed a fire that 'looked to be around the hydraulic reservoir on the co-pilot's side' A gear up landing was executed on runway 04R. Examination of the airplane revealed that the left side of the nose gear well was burned in the vicinity of the fuel line that connects the fuel pump to the strainer. The squat switch wires, which are normally secured to the nose gear strut, were found loose. The squat switch wires were crimped and the protective casing around the wire was burned away at the crimped area. The FAA inspector reported that the fire burned a hole in the engine firewall.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The unsecured squat switch wires located in the nose gear that were crimped (damaged) when the landing gear was retracted and shorted, resulting in an in-flight fire. A factor was the failure of the landing gear to extend during the emergency descent/landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/23/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1038 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | LAFAYETTE |
| Event State | LOUISIANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 70505 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | LAFAYETTE RGNL AIRPORT |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | LFT |
| 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 | 42 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1050 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LFT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 42 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| 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) | 15 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 15 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 520 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 23 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1125 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 16 2001 11:55AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7354M |
| NTSB Number | FTW98LA131 |
| 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 | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 210M |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 210M |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 21062011 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4000 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/Foreign 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 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 1 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 117 |
| Airframe Hours | 2100 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | C. L. JACK STELLY & ASSC. INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 53353 |
| Aircraft Owner City | LAFAYETTE |
| Aircraft Owner State | LA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 70505 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | LFT |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1030 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 20 2001 6:29PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 4R |
| Runway Length | 7651 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |