Danbury Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Danbury, Connecticut 06810
Tuesady, August 14, 1984 14:15 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

AN ENG COMPARTMENT FIRE OCCURRED SHORTLY AFTER TAKEOFF & SMOKE ENTERED THE COCKPIT. THE PLT THEN MADE A FORCED LANDING IN A SAND PIT APRX 1 MI FM THE ARPT. HE & THE PAX EXITED THE ACFT WITH SERIOUS BURNS. AN INV REVEALED AN EXHAUST PIPE HAD FAILED AT A PRE-EXISTING CRACK NEAR FUEL SUPPLY LINES. THE EXHAUST PIPE HAD BEEN PREVIOUSLY WELDED, BUT THE FAILURE WAS UNRELATED TO THE WELD REPAIR. THERE WAS EVIDENCE THE FUEL LINES WERE BURNED BY ESCAPING EXHAUST GASES WHICH RESULTEDIN THE FIRE. DRG AN ANNUAL INSPN ON 12/21/82, EXHAUST SYS CRACKS WERE WELDED & THE MECHANIC RETURNED THE ACFT TO SERVICEAS AIRWORTHY, BUT RECOMMENDED THE EXHAUST SYS BE REPLACED. NO CRACKS WERE FND DRG A SUBSEQUENT ANNUAL INSPN ON 2/2/84 AT A TOTAL AIRFRAME TIME OF 3316 HRS & AN ENG TIME OF 1754 HRS. THE FLT TIME FROM THE LAST INSPN TO THE TIME OF THE ACDNT WAS NOT DETERMINED.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Not Yet Reported

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/14/1984
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1415
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City DANBURY
Event State CONNECTICUT
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 06810
Event Date Year 1984
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport DANBURY
Event Location Nearest Airport ID DXR
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 1
Degrees magnetic from airport 19
Airport Elevation 0
Weather Briefing Completeness Full
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1414 Eastern Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 19
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 Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 8000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 2000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 28
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -18
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 70
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
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 Serious
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious 2
Injury Total All 2
Investigating Agency FAA
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 2370
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time 0
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 26300
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 9:15AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N74558
NTSB Number NYC84FNE05
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire Ground and In-flight
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name MOONEY
Aircraft Model M20C
Aircraft Series Identifier M20C
Aircraft Serial Number 1949
Certified Max Gross Weight 2575
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 Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Feb 2 1984 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 3316
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name ROBERT P. MASSI
Aircraft Owner Street Address BUCK HILL ROAD
Aircraft Owner City SOUTHBURY
Aircraft Owner State CT
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 06488
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 Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code DXR
Departure City DANBURY
Departure State CT
Departure Country
Departure Time 1410
Departure Time Zone EST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code BDR
Destination City BRIDGEPORT
Destination State CT
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:30AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 0
Runway Length 0
Runway Width 0
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --