Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Boise Air Terminal (Gowen Fld) Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Boise, Idaho 83705
Wednesday, January 2, 2002 10:45 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Shortly after takeoff for an after maintenance test flight, the pilot noted a fire in the left engine. The pilot reduced power and landed the aircraft on the remaining runway without further incident. The engine and systems were shut down prior to the pilot and passenger evacuating the aircraft. Fire personnel responded and applied a small amount of foam on the engine, which was at the time, only smoking. Inspection of the engine revealed that the fire was contained to the accessory section of the engine. Heat distress was found to the outboard nacelle web assembly and the top wing skin under the nacelle was warped. Further inspection found that an electrical arc in the alternator wiring due to chafing against a pneumatic tube was responsible for the ignition of the fire. Accumulated fuel vapor from a fuel cell leak that was an on-going maintenance discrepancy for approximately three weeks preceding the accident, and eventually fixed, was most probable the source of the fuel.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Improper clearance between an alternator wire and a pneumatic line and fuel fumes. The alternator wire chafe and arcing were factors.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/2/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1045 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Boise |
| Event State | IDAHO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 83705 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | Boise Air Terminal (Gowen Fld) |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | BOI |
| 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 | 2868 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| 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) | 2 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 150 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| 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) | 12411 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Regional Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 2 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1135 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 4 2002 9:07AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Boise, Idaho |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N132Z |
| NTSB Number | SEA02FA023 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | In-flight |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | 58P |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | TJ-284 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 6240 |
| 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 | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 14 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 11 |
| Airframe Hours | 6083 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | US Department of Agriculture |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3833 S. Development Ave. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Boise |
| Aircraft Owner State | ID |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 83705 |
| 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) | Flight Test |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | BOI |
| Departure City | Boise |
| Departure State | ID |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1045 |
| 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 | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | Yes |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 15 2002 12:25PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 10R |
| Runway Length | 9763 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |