Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Danbury Muni Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Danbury, Connecticut 06812
Tuesady, February 2, 1993 19:20 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THIS WAS THE FIRST FLIGHT OF THE DAY AND THE TEMPERATURE WAS BELOW FREEZING. THE PILOT PRIMED THE ENGINE SEVERAL TIMES AND THEN ATTEMPTED TO START THE ENGINE. IT RAN FOR A FEW SECONDS AND THEN STOPPED. HE PRIMED IT SEVERAL TIMES AGAIN AND THEN ATTEMPTED ANOTHER START. AGAIN THE ENGINE STARTED AND THEN STOPPED. HE THEN NOTICED A GLOW ON THE GROUND AND EVACUATED THE PASSENGERS WHILE HE ATTEMPTED TO CRANK THE ENGINE, HOWEVER THE FLAMES SPREAD, AND THE PILOT EVACUATED THE AIRPLANE. THE MASTER SWITCH, ELECTRIC FUEL PUMP, MIXTURE CONTROL AND THE FUEL SELECTOR VALVE WERE LEFT ON. ACCORDING TO THE AIRPLANE FLIGHT MANUAL, PRIMING IS USED ONLY AFTER THE INITIAL START ATTEMPT. IN ADDITION, IF A FIRE OCCURS DURING START, THE MANUAL SAY TO SHUT OFF THE MIXTURE AND FUEL SELECTOR. THE PILOT HAD 90 HOURS TOTAL TIME.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
THE PILOT'S IMPROPER EMERGENCY PROCEDURES FOR AN ENGINE FIRE DURING STARTING WHICH RESULTED IN THE SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE. FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE THE PILOT'S IMPROPER STARTING PROCEDURE AND HIS LACK OF TOTAL EXPERIENCE.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/2/1993 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1920 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | DANBURY |
| Event State | CONNECTICUT |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 06812 |
| Event Date Year | 1993 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | DANBURY MUNI |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | DXR |
| 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 | 457 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1950 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 1 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DXR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 457 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Bright |
| 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) | 20 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -8 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| 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 | 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) | 773 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 3 1993 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 948 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 48237 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 26 2002 3:58PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\ZUZL |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N233PA |
| NTSB Number | NYC93LA060 |
| 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 | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-161 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-28-161 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-7816676 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2325 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 2 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | BLUE BIRD AVIATION |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 19 MIRY BROOK ROAD |
| Aircraft Owner City | DANBURY |
| Aircraft Owner State | CT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 06810 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | BLUE BIRD AVIATION |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 19 MIRY BROOK ROAD |
| Operator City | DANBURY |
| Operator State | CT |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 06810 |
| 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 | DXR |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 0 |
| Departure Time Zone | |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | DXR |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Standing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 18 2002 11:13AM |
| User who most recently changed record | JOHB |
| 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 | -- |