Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Miami, Florida 33166
Thursday, December 5, 2002 20:40 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The aircraft was en route at night when it made several course changes before air traffic control (ATC) lost radio and radar contact with the flight. Witnesses saw the airplane descend to the ground in a nose-down attitude and collided with a building. The body the pilot, who had occupied the right-front seat, was found some distance from the aircraft. He sustained burns injuries over 25 percent of his body. The impact damage precluded determination of the cause of the fire. During the flight, ATC replied no to the pilots query if other flights were reporting the smell of smoke. The investigation revealed a powered six-movement automotive seat was installed the in the left front position. The seat was powered by three motors of which in their original automotive installation were protected by a 30-amp circuit breaker; however, when installed in the aircraft was changed to a 5-amp breaker. In this installation the failure of the motor resulted in the opening of the breaker. If the breaker did not open, the switch would fail which was preceded by the motor overheating. After the installation there were instances of the circuit breaker tripping when the seat had a "larger" occupant. During the accident flight, the pilot-rated passenger who occupied the seat was 6 feet 3 inches tall and weighed 231 pounds. The possibility existed for one of the motors for the seat to overheat, and ignite the seat cushion.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The inflight fire of undetermined origin, which resulted in pilot incapacitation, loss of aircraft control and an inflight collision with a building.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/5/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 2040 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Miami |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33166 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 254759N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0801742W |
| 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 | 2056 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KMIA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 11 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 3 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| 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) | 25 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 24 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 170 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.01 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 18007 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA SE Reg Com Ctr |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 5 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2120 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 7 2005 10:33AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Miami FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N192FW |
| NTSB Number | MIA03FA024 |
| 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 | In-flight |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | AAA Aircraft Leasing |
| Aircraft Model | 192 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | FW02050001 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2800 |
| 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 | Nov 25 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 94 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | AAA Aircraft Leasing |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1501 Airway Cr. |
| Aircraft Owner City | New Smyrna Beach |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 32168 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Four Winds Aircraft |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| 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) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | MTH |
| Departure City | MARATHON |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 2000 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | EVB |
| Destination City | New Smyrna Bch |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent - uncontrolled |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 13 2005 11:53AM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| 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 | -- |