Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Sedona Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Sedona, Arizona 86336
Tuesady, March 9, 2004 14:00 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane's left wing exploded while the pilot was taxiing from landing. After landing, the pilot maneuvered the airplane in a turn in an effort to taxi off the runway. While turning, the outboard section of the left wing exploded and a small fire erupted. The pilot noted that during the landing neither the navigation nor strobe lights were in the "on" position. A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector found a small piece of material, resembling leather, wrapped around a portion of the fuel line with a clamp affixed, keeping it in place. The location of the clamped material around the fuel line was in an area of the most damage. On the skin material around the fuel line, he noted a dark gummy substance, consistent with the appearance of residual fuel. He opined that the clamped material was installed in an effort to fix a fuel leak. He also thought that after the material became saturated with fuel, fuel vapors filled the outboard cavity of the wing. The airplane's parts manual revealed that the electrical wiring in the outboard section of the left wing consists of wiring for the navigation light, the landing light, and the stall warning indicator. The fuel line runs behind the leading edge to the outboard tanks of the wing.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
an explosion of the left outboard wing, resulting from a leaking fuel line and the ignition of the flammable fuel/air mixture in the outboard wing bays; the source of ignition energy for the explosion could not be determined. A factor in the accident was an improper maintenance installation of a foreign material patch to fix a fuel leak.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/9/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1400 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Sedona |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 86336 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 345055N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1114719W |
| Event Location Airport | Sedona Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SEZ |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 4827 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1356 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 20 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FLG |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 7000 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 18 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| 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) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -5 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 220 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 11 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.3 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 8532 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 17589 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 9 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1424 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 28 2005 2:59PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-SDL-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N751T |
| NTSB Number | LAX04LA159 |
| 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 | Ground |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | 65 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | LC-223 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 7700 |
| 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 | 7 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 18 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 76 |
| Airframe Hours | 3463 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | International Albatross Corp |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3511 Silverside Rd, Ste 105 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Wilmington |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19810 |
| 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 | SJN |
| Departure City | St. Johns |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1300 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | SEZ |
| Destination City | Sedona |
| Destination State | AZ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - roll |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | -- |
| User who most recently changed record | -- |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 21 |
| Runway Length | 5132 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |