Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Chandler Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Chandler, Arizona 85249
Wednesday, May 26, 2010 8:15 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The certificated flight instructor (CFI) and private pilot were performing touch-and-go practice takeoff and landings. When the airplane was turning to the crosswind leg of the traffic pattern they began to see smoke in the cockpit, which was likely coming through the defroster vents. With the airplane about 1,600 feet mean sea level, the CFI assumed authority of the controls and declared an emergency to the tower air traffic controller. Within several seconds the smoke became thick in the cabin, and the CFI banked the airplane right with the intent of landing on the closet runway. The smoke in the cockpit became so thick that the CFI lost visual reference outside. He flared the airplane and it touched down hard. After the airplane came to a stop, the CFI and the private pilot exited. A review of the airplane maintenance logbooks revealed that the last annual inspection was completed 2 days prior to the accident. According to the records, the airplane had accrued approximately 4 additional flight hours since that inspection. An examination of the firewall revealed that its left side had a white coloration which turned to a black soot color on the right side, consistent with the fire originating on the left side of the engine. The fuel line leading from the engine driven fuel pump to the carburetor was found disconnected at the fuel pump. There was no visible impact damage to the “B” nut on the line or to the fitting on the fuel pump, indicating the line was not connected at the time of impact. Based on this evidence, it is likely that the “B” nut on the line was not properly tightened, which allowed it to back off due to normal engine vibration, resulting in the line disconnecting during the flight. Pressurized fuel from the fuel pump then sprayed onto the left side of the exhaust system and ignited. The engine manufacturer recommended that the fuel line “B” nut torque should be 35 in-lbs.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Failure of the maintenance personnel to ensure adequate torque of a fuel line fitting, which resulted in an in-flight fire.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/26/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 815 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Chandler |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85249 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 331619n |
| Event Location Longitude | 1114817w |
| Event Location Airport | Chandler Municipal Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | CHD |
| 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 | 1243 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 847 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CHD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1243 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| 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) | 40 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -1 |
| 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) | 29.89 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 27989 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Regl Ops Ctr |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 4 2011 3:44PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4122T |
| NTSB Number | WPR10FA264 |
| 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 | In-flight |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-161 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2842013 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 24 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 5 |
| Airframe Hours | 8823 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CHANDLER AIR SERVICE INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1675 E RYAN RD |
| Aircraft Owner City | CHANDLER |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 85249-1731 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | CHANDLER AIR SERVICE INC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 1675 E RYAN RD |
| Operator City | CHANDLER |
| Operator State | AZ |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 85249-1731 |
| 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 | CHD |
| Departure City | Chandler |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 745 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | CHD |
| Destination City | Chandler |
| Destination State | AZ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 4 2011 3:44PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |