Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
General Mitchell Intl Apt Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53201
Monday, January 31, 2000 16:45 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During passenger boarding the flight crew was advised of smoke coming from the passenger lavatory. The flight crew instructed the flight attendants to evacuate the aircraft. All passengers and crew members exited normally. Inspection of the aircraft following the incident revealed that wiring internal to the water heater was discolored and melted adjacent to a terminal within the unit. The wire exhibited evidence of chaffing in the area next to the terminal screw. Additionally, it was found that the water heater installation was missing a grounding strap. The Federal Aviation Administration Inspector in conjunction with Midwest Express personnel determined that the missing grounding strap prevented the circuit breaker for the water heater from tripping. Subsequent to the incident, Midwest Express Airlines has inspected their DC9 aircraft to insure that the ground strap is present.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the chafing of the internal water heater wire. A factor was the missing ground strap.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 1/31/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1645 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | MILWAUKEE |
| Event State | WISCONSIN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 53201 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | GENERAL MITCHELL INTL APT |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | MKE |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Unknown |
| Time of the weather observation | 0 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | |
| Lighting Conditions | Not Reported |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Unknown |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| 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 | 91 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 5017 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 2 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1100 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 2 2001 3:18PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Unknown |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N203ME |
| NTSB Number | CHI00IA087 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 121: Air Carrier |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Unknown |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Minor |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | McDonnell Douglas |
| Aircraft Model | DC9-32 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | DC9-32 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 47673 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 110000 |
| 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 | 91 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 14 1999 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 77 |
| Airframe Hours | 60977 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MIDWEST EXPRESS AIRLINES |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 6744 S. HOWELL AVE |
| Aircraft Owner City | OAK CREEK |
| Aircraft Owner State | WI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 53154 |
| 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 | MWEA |
| 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 | MKE |
| 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 | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Standing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 20 2002 12:42PM |
| 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 | -- |