Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Cuchara Valley Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
La Veta, Colorado 81055
Sunday, January 17, 2010 15:06 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot had just made a turn during taxi when he heard a “pop” and saw smoke and flames coming from the engine area. He stopped the plane, shut down the engine, and exited the airplane as the fuselage became engulfed in flames. By the time the fire was extinguished the fuselage had been mostly consumed by fire. Examination of the wreckage revealed a localized area of high temperature thermal damage in the engine compartment located directly behind the fuel flow transducer. Examination of the fuel transducer revealed the outlet fuel line was loose at the crimp of the fuel line connector where it attached to the outlet elbow. Upon removal, a portion of interior rubber hose was found missing from underneath the steel braid as well as a portion of steel braiding. The missing portion of the steel braid was absent pre-fire, which interfered with the crimp seal and subsequently resulted in a fuel leak and fire. The cause of the missing steel braid was not determined.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A fuel leak and subsequent fire due to a mechanical defect.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/17/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1506 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | La Veta |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 81055 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 373126N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1050033W |
| Event Location Airport | Cuchara Valley Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 07V |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 7153 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| 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 | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 4 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Light and Variable |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.1 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KVTP 172159Z AUTO 24008G17KT 180V280 10SM BK |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 28082 |
| 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 15 2011 1:51PM |
| User who most recently changed record | bowl |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N782LU |
| NTSB Number | CEN10LA098 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | MOONEY |
| Aircraft Model | M20R |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 29-0314 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3374 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 13 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 350 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | HABEAIRE LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3511 SILVERSIDE RD |
| Aircraft Owner City | WILMINGTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19810-4902 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Joseph M. Lange |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | PO Box 24 |
| Operator City | Fort Garland |
| Operator State | CO |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 81133 |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | 07V |
| Departure City | La Veta |
| Departure State | CO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1505 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | ALS |
| Destination City | Alamosa |
| Destination State | CO |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 18 2011 5:34PM |
| User who most recently changed record | bakd |
| 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 | -- |