Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Albuquerque International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87106
Thursday, March 21, 2002 11:26 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the pilot, who was an FAA certified airframe and power plant mechanic, on the morning the accident, he completed re-installing the engine following its overhaul by another company. He made several engine run and leak checks, and all parameters were within limits and no leaks were noted. He then boarded the airplane for a 15 minute maintenance test flight. The flight taxied to the runway, and the pilot performed a pre-takeoff engine run-up, noted no anomalies and departed. During the initial takeoff climb, just as the pilot reached for the landing gear lever, the cockpit filled with black smoke, and the engine began to lose power. The tower controller then reported to the pilot that the airplane was on fire. The pilot executed a forced landing back to the runway, which had some length remaining. The airplane impacted the ground, and an intense fire erupted (the pilot observed a flash fire through the cockpit). The airplane slid 1,000 feet and came to rest upright. Examination of the airplane revealed that the exhaust interconnect tube to the exhaust collector for the #10 cylinder was protruding through the inlet duct of the lower cheek cowl, and was disconnected from the cylinder. The area around the opening exhibited severe heat distress, consistent with a fire. Oil supply lines and the main fuel supply line were melted through and compromised. The oil and fuel line hoses were made of rubber and were not outfitted with fire shields. No other pertinent anomalies were discovered with the #10 cylinder or the remainder of the engine.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot/mechanic's failure to properly re-install the engine's #10 cylinder exhaust interconnect tube, which resulted in an in-flight fire and forced landing. Contributing factors were the burned fuel and oil supply lines, which were not fire shielded.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/21/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1126 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Albuquerque |
| Event State | NEW MEXICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 87106 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 350225N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1063633W |
| Event Location Airport | Albuquerque International |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | ABQ |
| 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 | 5355 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1156 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ABQ |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5355 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | -- |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -10 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.36 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 12525 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 21 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1345 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 6 2002 3:26PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Albuquerque, New Mexico |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N47TB |
| NTSB Number | FTW02LA098 |
| 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 | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Republic |
| Aircraft Model | P-47N-20-RE |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 44-89136 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 21000 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 7 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 12 |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | American Airpower Heritage Flying Museum Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. Box 62000 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Midland |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 79711 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | ABQ |
| Departure City | Albuquerque |
| Departure State | NM |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1126 |
| 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 |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 24 2002 9:39AM |
| User who most recently changed record | SNYG |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 08 |
| Runway Length | 13793 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |