Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Orlando Sanford International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Sanford, Florida 32773
Monday, March 16, 2009 21:30 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The student pilot was making a stop-and-go landing and used maximum wheel and aerodynamic braking to stop the airplane. After coming to a stop, both pilots realized that the engine had stopped running. After calling tower personnel and advising them of the situation, the instructor attempted to re-start the engine. Four total re-start attempts were made. After the fourth attempt, the pilots noticed smoke and flames coming from the engine compartment. The instructor moved the mixture control to idle cut-off, and exited the airplane. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector examined the airplane and reported fire damage to the engine and airframe, including firewall deformation. The inspector stated that the fire appeared to originate in the induction system air box. In addition, damage to the air box was consistent with a fuel-air explosion. During the course of the investigation the source of the original loss of power was not identified, nor was it definitively proven how the air box was damaged; however, flooding of the engine during repeated attempts to start the engine could have played a role in the accident. The operator's maintenance personnel reported that the airplane did not have a history of engine problems.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
An engine air induction explosion for an undetermined reason during repeated engine start attempts.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/16/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 2130 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Sanford |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 32773 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 284636N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0811408W |
| Event Location Airport | Orlando Sanford International |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SFB |
| 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 | 55 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2245 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SFB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 55 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| 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) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 15 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 310 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.14 |
| 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) | 25904 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Southern ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 15 2009 2:47PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N613FT |
| NTSB Number | ERA09LA201 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| 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 | 2841236 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2332 |
| 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 | Dec 18 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 80 |
| Airframe Hours | 14512 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | F I T AVIATION LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 801 Harry Goode Way |
| Aircraft Owner City | MELBOURNE |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 32901-1832 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Florida Institute of Technology |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 801 Harry Goode Way |
| Operator City | MELBOURNE |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 32901-1832 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | MLB |
| Departure City | Melbourne |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 2015 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | SFB |
| Destination City | Sanford |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 21 2009 4:06PM |
| User who most recently changed record | muzd |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 27R |
| Runway Length | 9600 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |