Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Nephi Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Nephi, Utah 84648
Friday, June 19, 1998 20:21 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported to Salt Lake City ARTCC that 'I've lost an engine and the cockpit is filling with smoke.' Five minutes later the pilot reported that 'my cylinders are all blown, I've got smoke comin' through.' He stated that he would shut off the electrical power as soon as the landing gear was down. A witness observed N3861K appear from behind a one-story building flying 'what appeared to be straight up in the air, and then it veered sharply to the right, then went straight down.' The airplane had been modified with a turbonormalizing system and the installer recommended that the tailpipe be removed for internal inspection of the turbocharger every 100 hours. Postaccident examination of the turbine exhaust flange revealed a 3-inch portion was missing and the fuel selector was found on the right main fuel tank. Several items from the airplane were found outside the postimpact fire area and they exhibited fire damage: the cabin entrance door, the cargo door, a passenger's shoe, and the engine cowling. The firewall had an 18 inch hole burned through it. Toxicology tests on the pilot revealed that fluoxetine (trade name Prozac, a non-approved drug for flight status) was present in his blood.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The improper installation of the turbocharger exhaust stack by unknown maintenance personnel and the subsequent fire in the engine compartment due to the exhaust gas leak from the turbocharger. Factors were the total loss of engine power due to fuel line failure and subsequent fuel starvation, the pilot not following proper emergency procedures, and the loss of aircraft control due to the pilot's incapacitation following the spread of the fire to the cabin area.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/19/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 2021 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | NEPHI |
| Event State | UTAH |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 84648 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | NEPHI MUNICIPAL AIRPORT |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | U14 |
| 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 | 5009 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2015 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 350 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PVU |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4491 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 31 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| 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) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 320 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 18 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 27 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 6899 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1422 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 20 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 501 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 23 2001 1:55PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3861K |
| NTSB Number | FTW98FA276 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | In-flight |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | A36 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | A36 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | E-1842 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3600 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 30 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 161 |
| Airframe Hours | 2228 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | VERTICAL DIMENSIONS INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 630 S. 4TH ST STE 100 |
| Aircraft Owner City | LAS VEGAS |
| Aircraft Owner State | NV |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 89101 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | GARRY C. WAITE |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 9316 EAGLE RIDGE |
| Operator City | LAS VEGAS |
| Operator State | NV |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 89134 |
| 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 | VGT |
| Departure City | LAS VEGAS |
| Departure State | NV |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1842 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | U14 |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 23 2001 1:55PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 34 |
| Runway Length | 4700 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |