Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Raleigh Durham International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Raleigh Durham, North Carolina 27604
Wednesday, August 13, 2003 14:50 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Shortly after takeoff from the Charleston International Airport, the crew experienced smoke in the cockpit. The flight diverted to Raleigh Durham International Airport, and landed without further incident. Maintenance personnel found heat damage that centered around the left utility bus electrical relay. The laboratory's examination revealed that all of the thermal damage, melting, charring and arcing, evidence showed that thermal event originated internally or on an external relay terminal. The source of the smoke was found to be the failure of a Hartman electrical relay.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of a utility bus relay which resulted in an electrical fire and subsequent smoke in the cockpit.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 8/13/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1450 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Raleigh Durham |
| Event State | NORTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 27604 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 355259N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0784725W |
| Event Location Airport | Raleigh Durham International |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | RDU |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 436 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1451 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RDU |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 436 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 24 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 30 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.29 |
| 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 | 23 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 18548 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Comair Flight Safety |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 13 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1600 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 27 2005 6:51AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Greensboro FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N451CA |
| NTSB Number | ATL03IA126 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 121: Air Carrier |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Minor |
| Aircraft Fire | In-flight |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Bombardier |
| Aircraft Model | CL600-2B19 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 7562 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 53000 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 43 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 1 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 210 |
| Airframe Hours | 4450 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Comair, Inc |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 77 Comair Blvd |
| Aircraft Owner City | Erlanger |
| Aircraft Owner State | KY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 41018 |
| 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 | coma |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- |
| 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 | Scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | CHS |
| Departure City | Charleston |
| Departure State | SC |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1515 |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | LGA |
| Destination City | La Guardia |
| Destination State | NY |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Climb - to cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 2 2005 10:16AM |
| User who most recently changed record | POWP |
| 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 | -- |