Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Copemish, Michigan 49625
Saturday, July 27, 2002 12:30 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane was destroyed during an on-ground fire following an emergency descent/landing due to an in-flight fire. The pilot reported that he smelled smoke followed by the cabin filling with heavy black smoke. The pilot stated flames began to enter the cockpit as he maneuvered the airplane for a landing in an agricultural field. The airplane nosed over during the landing. The left exhaust stack assembly contained a fatigue fracture adjacent to the main collector welded joint. The fracture was in both the heat affected zone and parent material. The fracture initiated in multiple locations on the outside surface of the tube and progressed through a fatigue mechanism. Energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) confirmed that both the weld and tube material met design specifications. The weld profile contained no apparent flaws. The left exhaust stack assembly had accumulated approximately 100 hours since new. The design of the Cessna supplied left exhaust stack assembly differs from the comparable Knisley PMA assembly. The Cessna assembly has a two-piece main collector. The two halves are stamped-out and joined together with a seam weld. The weight of the turbocharger assembly is supported in part by the left exhaust stack assembly. The Knisley main collector is manufactured by welding several tube sections together. Knisley issued a mandatory service bulletin that called for the removal of their left exhaust stack assembly and its replacement with the current Cessna assembly or FAA approved equivalent. The service bulletin states that the replacement was instituted because the Knisely assembly was not designed to carry the load of the turbocharger and compressor.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The in-flight engine and cabin fire caused by a fatigue fracture of the left exhaust stack assembly. An additional cause was the part's inadequate design by the aftermarket part manufacturer. A factor to the accident was the soft field in which the emergency landing was made.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/27/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1230 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Copemish |
| Event State | MICHIGAN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 49625 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 442742N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0855017W |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1255 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 237 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MBL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 621 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 21 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2300 |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 21 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 280 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.79 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 2460 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 15271 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 27 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1400 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 28 2004 3:34PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA - Grand Rapids FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N756CS |
| NTSB Number | CHI02LA218 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground and In-flight |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | TR182 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | R18201041 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3100 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 3 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 88.6 |
| Airframe Hours | 3394.2 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | James D. Davis |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4115 North Amber Road |
| Aircraft Owner City | Scottsville |
| Aircraft Owner State | MI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 49454 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | LDM |
| Departure City | Ludington |
| Departure State | MI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1215 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | TVC |
| Destination City | Traverse City |
| Destination State | MI |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency descent/landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 20 2004 9:18AM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |