Newark-Heath Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Newark, Ohio 43057
Friday, April 20, 2001 13:00 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

After landing, while taxing back to the ramp area, the pilot observed a fire in the left engine. He secured the engine and evacuated the airplane. Examination of the engine revealed that the fuel boost pump was leaking. At the time, the pump manufacturer had a service bulletin to inspect, and retorque if necessary, four screws that secured the pump valve assembly. Examination and testing of the pump at the manufacturer's facility revealed that the wrong set of four screws had been torqued. Discussions between the pump manufacturer and airplane operator revealed that there was some ambiguity in the current service bulletin, and the maintenance personnel were confused at to which four screws the bulletin referred to. Subsequently, the pump manufacturer revised the service bulletin.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The company maintenance personnel's failure to comply with the service bulletin, which resulted in a fuel boost pump leakage and subsequent fire during taxi. A factor was the manufacturer's confusing service bulletin.

Event Information

Type of Event Incident
Event Date 4/20/2001
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1300
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Newark
Event State OHIO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 43057
Event Date Year 2001
Event Date Month 4
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport Newark-Heath Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID VTA
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 884
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1254 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID VTA
Elevation of weather observation facility 884
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 600
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions --
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 2
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 8
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 7
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 160
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 7
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.13
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation Light
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 10961
NTSB Notification Source Lycoming
NTSB Notification Date May 15 2001 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1200
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Nov 6 2001 9:00AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Instrument Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Cleveland, OH

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N4078L
NTSB Number NYC01IA126
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage Minor
Aircraft Fire Ground
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Piper
Aircraft Model PA-31-350
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number PA31-81520060
Certified Max Gross Weight 7448
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 8
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Continuous Airworthiness
Date of Last Inspection Feb 28 2001 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 48
Airframe Hours 10334
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Crow Executive Air
Aircraft Owner Street Address 28331 Lemoyne Road
Aircraft Owner City Millbury
Aircraft Owner State OH
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 43447
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 DRUA
Owner has at least one certificate --
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 Non-scheduled
Indicates Domestic or International Flight Domestic
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail Passenger Only
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) --
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code FWA
Departure City Fort Wayne
Departure State IA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1200
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code VTA
Destination City Newark
Destination State OH
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - roll
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred Yes
Date of most recent change to record Oct 18 2001 2:17PM
User who most recently changed record PEAR
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 09
Runway Length 4649
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --