Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Alleghany County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15102
Monday, April 5, 2010 12:33 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During the takeoff roll, the pilot smelled and saw smoke emanating from the instrument panel. He aborted the takeoff, exited the runway, and shut off the master and alternator switches. The smoke continued to emanate from the instrument panel so the pilot elected to shutdown the engine and both occupants exited the airplane. Paint blistering was observed on the left side of the airplane in the vicinity of the instrument panel. The cabin area and the roof structure were consumed by fire, resulting in substantial damage to the airplane. The pilot stated that he purchased the airplane approximately six months prior to the accident, but the airplane and engine logbooks were lost prior to the purchase. After the pilot purchased the airplane, it was inspected in accordance with regulations, but no work was performed on the avionics or wiring other than replacing the altitude encoder. Two years prior to the accident, the manufacturer issued a communiqué that required an inspection for wire chaffing after any maintenance work, and during an annual inspection with special emphasis on examining the areas with considerable amount of movement. It further stated that the area between the instrument panel and the firewall not only had the greatest concentration of wiring, but also had moving components that could damage improperly secured wiring in a very short time. A postaccident inspection by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that the area of the origin for the fire was the left forward section of the instrument panel, in the vicinity of the communication radios, circuit breakers, and electrical bus bar. The exact source of the fire could not be determined.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A fire of undetermined origin behind the left instrument panel.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/5/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1233 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Pittsburgh |
| Event State | PENNSYLVANIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 15102 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 402108N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0795548W |
| Event Location Airport | Alleghany County Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | AGC |
| 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 | 1250 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1253 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | AGC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1250 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 4900 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4900 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Thin Broken |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 250 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 25 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.02 |
| 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) | 28546 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Eastern ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 10 2011 8:27AM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | -- |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N156J |
| NTSB Number | ERA10LA210 |
| 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 | BEECH |
| Aircraft Model | 35-A33 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | CD-285 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3000 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 17 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 4400 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Pittsburgh Institue of Aeronautics |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | West Mifflin |
| Aircraft Owner State | PA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 15122 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Pittsburgh Institue of Aeronautics |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | West Mifflin |
| Operator State | PA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 15122 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | AGC |
| Departure City | Pittsburgh |
| Departure State | PA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | AGC |
| Destination City | Pittsburgh |
| Destination State | PA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 25 2011 12:08PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 28 |
| Runway Length | 6501 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |