Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Eastern Wv Regional/Shepard Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Martinsburg, West Virginia 25401
Monday, December 17, 2001 18:50 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
While in cruise flight, with the combustion heater turned on, the pilot heard an explosion. Smoke then entered the cabin, followed by a loss of electrical power. The pilot diverted and landed without incident. Examination of the airplane revealed that the combustion heater exhibited heat and fire damage. The fuel pump supply line that ran between the fuel pump and the heater was found cracked at the fuel pump housing inlet, and was loose. The fractured surfaces appeared dull, and displayed carbon build-up. Examination of the airplane's logbooks revealed that on December 1, 1993, the combustion heater had been removed, rebuilt, and then re-installed, at a total airplane time of 3,932.2 hours. Additionally, there were no logged entries which indicated that the 20-year old Airworthiness Directive that was issued to "prevent a hazardous condition caused by deterioration on the combustion heater", for this particular model heater had been complied with. The airplane underwent an annual inspection in September 2001, at a total airplane time of 5,213.5 hours. At the time of the accident, the airplane had accrued a total of 5,231.9 hours.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the owner/mechanic's failure to comply with an Airworthiness Directive, which resulted in a cracked fuel supply line and subsequent in-flight fire.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/17/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1850 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | MARTINSBURG |
| Event State | WEST VIRGINIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 25401 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | EASTERN WV REGIONAL/SHEPARD |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | MRB |
| 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 | 557 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1853 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MRB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 557 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 4300 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 7 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 290 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.81 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -57 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| 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) | 13796 |
| NTSB Notification Source | BWI FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 20 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 830 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 26 2003 8:17AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | BALTIMORE FAA/FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4062Q |
| NTSB Number | IAD02LA020 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | In-flight |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 401A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 401A0111 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 6300 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 30 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 18.4 |
| Airframe Hours | 5213.5 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | ROY AIR INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | KEVIL |
| Aircraft Owner State | KY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 42053 |
| 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 | 40N |
| Departure City | COATESVILLE |
| Departure State | PA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1730 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | HTS |
| Destination City | HUNTINGTON |
| Destination State | WV |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 3 2002 2:32PM |
| User who most recently changed record | PEAR |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |