Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Purcell, Oklahoma 73080
Saturday, July 13, 2002 21:55 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
While cruising at 4,500 feet MSL on a dark night cross-country flight, a passenger seated in the right rear seat in the 4-place airplane complained to the pilot that her seat cushion was hot and she smelled something burning. The pilot subsequently noticed that his instrument lights had dimmed and his radios were intermittently cutting out. Within minutes the leather seat cushion started to smoke and the passengers attempted to control the in-flight fire with a blanket and some bottled water. The pilot elected to make an emergency landing on an Interstate highway. He extended full flaps and touched down on the centerline of the northbound lane. He guided his 3 passengers out of the burning airplane into the shoulder of the road. The cabin of the airplane and all combustible material within the cabin of the airplane were consumed by the fire. Examination of the wreckage revealed that the required 1/2 inch thick plywood plate that was to be installed on the bottom of the right rear cushion to isolate the battery posts from making contact with the seat springs, was not installed. The one-time AD and Service Bulletin requiring the installation of the plywood board had been complied with on 17 FEB 1982. The aircraft interior had been refurbished twice since the application of the AD. The airplane was not equipped with a portable fire extinguisher.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The in-flight cabin fire as result of non-compliance with an AD and a Service Bulletin. A contributing factor to the accident was night conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/13/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 2155 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Purcell |
| Event State | OKLAHOMA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 73080 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 345847N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0972309W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2152 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | OUN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1182 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| 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) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 22 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.95 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 4 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 4 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 13992 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA, Ft. Worth, TX. |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 13 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2220 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 30 2003 9:55AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N96PF |
| NTSB Number | FTW02LA205 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground and In-flight |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-161 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-8116266 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2325 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 10 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Oklahoma Irrigation Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3510 North Rockwell Avenue |
| Aircraft Owner City | Bethany |
| Aircraft Owner State | OK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 73008 |
| 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 | TKI |
| Departure City | McKinney |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 2041 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | PWA |
| Destination City | Oklahoma City |
| Destination State | OK |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | Yes |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 29 2003 11:51AM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |