Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Redlands Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Redlands, California 92374
Sunday, June 10, 2007 15:00 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On approach to landing the flight instructor, who occupied the right pilot seat, observed a loss of engine power. After landing and during the rollout the engine quit, followed by the left seat student pilot observing flames coming from his side of the engine cowling. The instructor pilot subsequently noticed smoke and flames coming from his side of the cowling, prompting the instructor and his student to evacuate the airplane. An examination of the airplane revealed thermal damage to the firewall and all four engine mounts. Two days after the accident an FAA inspector observed the operation of the electric fuel pump to be "normal." The inspector also reported that while observing the operation of the electric fuel pump he observed the carburetor leaking a steady stream of fluid. A subsequent examination of the airplane's carburetor revealed that prior to flow testing, the unit did flood before being tapped, after which it held fuel pressure. An examination/teardown of the carburetor revealed that the carburetor float was restricted due to a misadjusted retractor clip, which allowed fuel to pass the needle valve before being expelled from the carburetor and ignited by an undetermined source. It was also revealed by an FAA inspector that 2 days prior to the accident flight an incorrect electric fuel pump had been installed on the airplane during a 100-hour inspection, with a designation "FOR EXPERIMENTAL USE ONLY."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The restriction of the carburetor float as a result of a misadjusted retractor clip. A contributing factor was the fire.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/10/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1500 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Redlands |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 92374 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 340507N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1170847W |
| Event Location Airport | Redlands Municipal |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | L12 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 1571 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1453 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 220 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RAL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 818 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 19 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| 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) | 8 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 270 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.8 |
| 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) | 22563 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Regional Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 10 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 29 2007 8:02AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Riverside, California |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N130RJ |
| NTSB Number | SEA07LA170 |
| 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 |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-161 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-8416046 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2440 |
| 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 | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 1 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 0 |
| Airframe Hours | 9931 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Rainbow Air Academy Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Long Beach |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 90806 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | LGB |
| Departure City | Long Beach |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1400 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | L12 |
| Destination City | Redlands |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - roll |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 23 2007 11:09PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 26 |
| Runway Length | 4505 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |