Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Nenana, Alaska 99760
Wednesday, January 17, 2007 15:50 AST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The flight crew was delivering a cargo of fuel in the four-engine airplane under Title 14, CFR Part 125, when the airplane lost power in the number 2 engine. The captain elected to shut the engine down and return to the airport. He said during the shutdown procedure, the engine caught fire, and that the fire extinguishing system was activated. The crew thought the fire was out, but it erupted again, and the captain elected to land the airplane gear-up on the snow-covered tundra. Once on the ground, the left wing was consumed by fire. An inspection by company maintenance personnel revealed that an overhauled engine cylinder had failed at its base, resulting in a fire. The airplane was not examined by the NTSB due to its remote location.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The failure of an engine cylinder during cruise flight, which resulted in an in-flight fire, and subsequent emergency gear-up landing on snow-covered tundra. A factor in the accident was the failure of the fire suppression equipment to extinguish the fire.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 1/17/2007
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1550
Event Time Zone Atlantic Standard Time
Event City Nenana
Event State ALASKA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 99760
Event Date Year 2007
Event Date Month 1
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 643235N
Event Location Longitude 1491634W
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 1553 Atlantic Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 88
Weather Observation Facility ID PANN
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 3
Time Zone of the weather observation AST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 12000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
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) -19
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -21
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator --
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator Calm
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.81
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 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 21981
NTSB Notification Source FAA Anchorage, ROC
NTSB Notification Date Jan 17 2007 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jul 25 2007 12:22PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\lema
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Fairbanks, FSDO-01

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N82FA
NTSB Number ANC07LA016
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 125: 20+ Pax,6000+ lbs
Type of Flight Plan filed VFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire In-flight
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Douglas
Aircraft Model C54G-DC
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 35906
Certified Max Gross Weight 66670
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 3
Number of Engines 4
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Continuous Airworthiness
Date of Last Inspection Jan 1 2007 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 28933
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Brooks Fuel Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Fairbanks
Aircraft Owner State AK
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 99706
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 USA
Operator Zip code --
Operator Code B20B
Owner has at least one certificate Yes - certificate holder
Other Operator of large aircraft? Yes
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 Cargo
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Other Work Use
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code PAFA
Departure City Fairbanks
Departure State AK
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1530
Departure Time Zone AST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City Nixon Fork Mine
Destination State AK
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise - normal
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 25 2011 3:44PM
User who most recently changed record broda
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location N/A
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --