Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Coral Springs, Florida 33065
Friday, January 12, 2007 12:30 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During cruise flight, a Cessna 182Q seaplane experienced an engine compartment in-flight fire followed by a total loss of engine power. A successful forced landing to a lake was completed, and the fire was extinguished by a local fire department. Heat damage was noted to the firewall and structural members just aft of the firewall on the bottom of the fuselage. Examination of the engine compartment revealed a 10.00-inch long fire-sleeved, steel braided, flexible fuel line (the pressure return from the fuel control unit to the engine-driven fuel pump) had chafed against an electrical cable approximately 5 inches from where the fuel line attached to the engine-driven fuel pump. The chafing had created a hole in the fuel line and worn away the insulation from the wire which resulted in the in-flight fire, and ultimately the loss of engine power. The airplane was modified by a mechanic 2 years 4 months and 11 days earlier by installing a dimensionally larger engine and modifying the firewall per a Supplemental Type Certificate (STC). The engine provided to the mechanic came from the STC holder with the 10.00-inch fuel line installed, though this line was originally 8.25 inches in length when the STC was approved by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Aircraft Certification Office (ACO). Prior to STC approval, personnel from the ACO inspected a modified airplane and drawings submitted by the STC submitter; however the drawings only depicted modifications and not previously installed lines, hoses, etc. The mechanic who modified the airplane with the larger engine reported that postaccident, he inspected five similar airplanes and found two had chafing of the same electrical cable, but against different fuel lines. He also stated the area where the fracture fuel line was located was "tight."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The improper design change associated with a Supplemental Type Certificate (STC), which resulted in an in-flight fire.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/12/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1230 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Coral Springs |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33065 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 261611N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0801606W |
| 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 | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1235 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 320 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FXE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 13 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| 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) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 100 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 15 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 22 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.32 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 23710 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ATL ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 12 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 28 2008 3:01PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Fort Lauderdale, Florida |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N502SS |
| NTSB Number | MIA07LA036 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground and In-flight |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 182Q |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 18267502 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2950 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 30.5 |
| Airframe Hours | 2977 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Sea & Air Sales LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 7751 Kings Pointe Parkway # 128 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Orlando |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 32819 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | William J. Kitchen |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 7938 Versilia Drive |
| Operator City | Orlando |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 32836 |
| 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 | -- |
| Departure City | Windermere |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1115 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | KFXE |
| Destination City | Fort Lauderdale |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise - normal |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 31 2008 1:59PM |
| User who most recently changed record | grer |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |