Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Denver International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Denver, Colorado
Wednesday, June 10, 2009 12:30 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
A United Airlines Boeing 757-222, N570UA, experienced a tailpipe fire on the No. 2, right, engine, a Pratt & Whitney PW2037(M) during engine start at the Denver International Airport. The airplane's right wing in back of the engine and adjacent fuselage suffered minor damage. Interrogation of the cockpit engine display showed several faults related to the electronic engine control (EEC) burner pressure (Pb) sensors. The interrogation of the cockpit engine display also showed the Pb indications were abnormally high for an engine start. Fuel is scheduled to the an engine as a function of Pb. So a high Pb indication would consequently result in a high fuel flow to the engine. Because the engine was just starting, the limited amount of airflow through the engine was insufficient for the excessive amount of fuel and resulted in a tailpipe fire. The EEC was removed from the engine and sent to the manufacturer for testing. The testing could not identify a cause for the malfunction and subsequent tailpipe fire.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
There was a malfunction of the electronic engine control (EEC) burner pressure (Pb) sensor that had an abnormally high indication that resulted in an excessive amount of fuel being pumped into the engine that was still at a sub-idle condition. Because the engine was still accelerating to idle, the limited airflow through the engine engine was insufficient for the amount of fuel and resulted in a tailpipe fire. The cause of the EEC's Pb sensor fault could not be determined.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 6/10/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1230 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Denver |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | -- |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | Denver International Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KDEN |
| 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 | 5431 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | -- |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | -- |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| 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 | 192 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 29686 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 9 2012 10:08AM |
| User who most recently changed record | defc |
| Basic weather conditions | -- |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N570UA |
| NTSB Number | ENG09IA007 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 121: Air Carrier |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | -- |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Minor |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | BOEING |
| Aircraft Model | 757-222 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 26678 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 2 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | 4 |
| Passenger Seats | 186 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 192 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | UNITED AIR LINES INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1200 EAST ALGONQUIN RD |
| Aircraft Owner City | ELK GROVE |
| Aircraft Owner State | IL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 60007 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | UNITED AIR LINES INC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 1200 EAST ALGONQUIN RD |
| Operator City | ELK GROVE |
| Operator State | IL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 60007 |
| Operator Code | UALA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | UALA011A |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | Scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | -- |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | -- |
| Departure State | -- |
| Departure Country | -- |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 12 2012 5:53PM |
| User who most recently changed record | hooj |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |