Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Baltimore-Washington Intl Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Baltimore, Maryland 21240
Sunday, January 12, 1992 14:18 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
AS THE GEAR & FLAPS WERE RETRACTED AFTER TAKEOFF, THE #1 ENGINE LOW FUEL PRESSURE WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED. AT ABOUT 400' AGL, A "LOUD BANG" WAS HEARD FOLLOWED BY A #1 ENGINE FIRE WARNING INDICATION. THE ENGINE WAS SHUT DOWN & BOTH FIRE EXTINGUISHING BOTTLES WERE DISCHARGED. THE FLIGHTCREW EXTENDED THE LANDING GEAR BY USING THE ALTERNATE SYSTEM & MADE A NO-FLAP EMERGENCY LANDING. THEY USED EMERGENCY BRAKES, BUT DIRECTIONAL CONTROL WAS LOST & THE AIRCRAFT EXITED THE SIDE OF THE RUNWAY & STOPPED WITH THE FIRE EXTINGUISHED. AN EXAM OF THE #1 ENGINE AREA REVEALED A FAILED LOW FUEL PRESSURE WARNING SWITCH SNUBBER & FIRE DAMAGE TO THE ENGINE, NACELLE & WHEELWELL. THERE WAS EVIDENCE THAT DURING INSTALLATION, THE LOW FUEL PRESSURE WARNING SWITCH SNUBBER WAS TORSIONALLY DEFORMED, THEN FATIGUE & SUBSEQUENT FAILURE OCCURRED. GAPS IN THE FIREWALL ALLOWED LEAKING FUEL (SPRAY) TO ENTER THE HOT SECTION & IGNITE. THIS RESULTED IN AN EXPLOSION & FIRE. FIRE PROPAGATION RESULTED IN BURNED WIRES TO THE #1 STANDBY HYDRAULIC PUMP & A RUPTERED #2 SYSTEM HYDRAULIC LINE.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
IMPROPER INSTALLATION OF THE LOW FUEL PRESSURE WARNING SWITCH SNUBBER ON THE #1 ENGINE, RESULTING IN FATIGUE FAILURE OF THE SNUBBER, A FUEL LEAK (SPRAY), AND SUBSEQUENT EXPLOSION/FIRE DAMAGE. A FACTOR RELATED TO THE INCIDENT WAS: INADEQUATE DESIGN OF THE FIREWALL, WHICH ALLOWED FUEL VAPORS TO MIGRATE TO THE HOT SECTION OF THE ENGINE.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 1/12/1992 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1418 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | BALTIMORE |
| Event State | MARYLAND |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 21240 |
| Event Date Year | 1992 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | BALTIMORE-WASHINGTON INTL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | BWI |
| 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 | 146 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1420 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 120 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BWI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 146 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| 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) | 15 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 50 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 29 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 150 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| 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 | 33 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 5055 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | 0 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 52722 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 10 2001 4:45AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N923HA |
| NTSB Number | BFO92IA017 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 121: Air Carrier |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Minor |
| Aircraft Fire | In-flight |
| Aircraft Explosion | In-flight |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | de Havilland |
| Aircraft Model | DHC-8-102 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | DHC-8-102 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 99 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 34500 |
| 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 | 39 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 9 1992 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 96 |
| Airframe Hours | 9965 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | WESTINGHOUSE CREDIT CORP |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1 OXFORD CENTER |
| Aircraft Owner City | PITTSBURGH |
| Aircraft Owner State | PA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 15219 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | USAIR EXPRESS |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | SALISBURY/WICIMO CO AIRPORT |
| Operator City | SALISBURY |
| Operator State | MD |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 21801 |
| Operator Code | HNAA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| 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 | Domestic |
| 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 | 1405 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | CHO |
| Destination City | CHARLOTTESVILLE |
| Destination State | VA |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 10 2001 4:00AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 22 |
| Runway Length | 6005 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |