Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Casa Grande Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Casa Grande, Arizona 85222
Monday, April 30, 2001 18:50 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane was making a precautionary landing due to a fluid leak (most likely fuel) in the cockpit and had an explosive flash fire in the cabin during the landing roll. The pilot stated that a clear fluid was running down the cabin side of the firewall from an area right of center. The right seat passenger reported that the leak appeared to be coming from behind the instrument panel directly in front of her position. The pilot then pulled back the power slowly and headed for the closest airport. A passenger and the ground witnesses described the touchdown and rollout as normal until an explosion occurred, which filled the cabin with flames and blew the entry door off the right side of the airplane. Witnesses on the ground reported seeing flames coming out of the front-bottom of the aircraft before hearing a "pop" in conjunction with the explosion inside the cockpit. The fabric-over-tubular-steel-frame airframe was thermally destroyed except for the steel components. An examination of the thermal damage patterns disclosed that the most extensive thermal damage appeared to be forward of the right front seat where the passenger reported the fluid leak. Also parts of the metal frame were severely warped, especially on the lower right-hand side near the firewall and below where the instrument panel would be. In addition the bottom braces of the engine mount were warped due thermal damage. Furthermore, there was sooting and heat resultant discoloration on the firewall in the engine compartment. On the topside and on the right-hand side of the firewall red and black discoloration without sooting was evident. The color on the right side of the firewall was a mixture of black and tan, with a little red. On the bottom part of the firewall there was minimal sooting and a tan color. The only flammable fluid lines on the right quadrant of the firewall are the pressure measurement lines for fuel, engine oil, and hydraulics. These Mil-6000 hose lines are connected to firewall and pass-through fittings, that are located almost directly in front of the right seat passenger's location on the upper part of the firewall. On the cabin side of the firewall, three other Mil-6000 hoses connect these fittings to a "3-in-1" instrument panel gage that displays the operating pressure of these three systems. No evidence was found in the maintenance records that these fuel lines had ever been replaced. While the fuel related components (i.e. carburetor, fuel pump, and associated lines) attached to the engine were thermally damaged, the degree of damage was significantly less than the fuel components attached to the firewall. The thermal damage and sooting patterns indicate that an accelerant based fire originated on both sides of the firewall near the bottom.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A fuel leak on the cabin and engine sides of the firewall with a probable origin at the firewall pass-through fitting for the fuel pressure gage line. The fire likely began on the engine side of the firewall near the bottom with the explosive ignition of the pooled fuel/vapors in the cockpit after burn through penetration of the fuselage fabric skin on the bottom aft side of the firewall. Further refinement of the leak source between the pass-through fitting and the lines/connectors could not be established due to thermal destruction of the components.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/30/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1850 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Casa Grande |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85222 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 325717N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1114601W |
| Event Location Airport | Casa Grande Municipal |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | CGZ |
| 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 | 1464 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1855 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CGZ |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1464 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 31 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 310 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.91 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 3618 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 12345 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 30 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1907 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 24 2002 3:20PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-FSDO-SDL |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N521A |
| NTSB Number | LAX01FA160 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | Ground |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Bellanca |
| Aircraft Model | 14-19 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2074 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2600 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 16 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 12 |
| Airframe Hours | 1673.2 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Michael Leroy Atkinson |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Chandler |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 85226 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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 | CHD |
| Departure City | Chandler |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1830 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| 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 | Emergency landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | Yes |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 5 2002 5:36PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 05 |
| Runway Length | 5200 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |