Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Caldwell Industrial Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Caldwell, Idaho 83605
Sunday, June 27, 2010 18:00 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Several minutes after starting the engine, the pilot noticed an odor in the cockpit, which he thought was similar to that of burning plastic. He could hear the hydraulic pump cycle once, which he thought was unusual. He pulled the hydraulic circuit breaker out and within 30 seconds he observed smoke emanating from the engine area. He shut down the airplane and noticed flames at the bottom of the engine cowl. According to the pilot, the last conditional inspection was completed 6 days prior to the accident, and the airplane accumulated 2 flight hours since that inspection. An examination of the firewall revealed that its right side had a white coloration, which turned to a black soot color on the left side, consistent with the fire originating on the right side of the engine. On the right side of the belly area, near the nose landing gear compartment, a red/pink hydraulic fluid stain started and continued down toward the tail. The stain became small beads of pooling liquid at the low point of the belly, indicating a hydraulic leak. Above the stain, on the right side of the engine firewall, were two hydraulic fittings where hoses connected to either side of the nose landing gear actuator. Based on this evidence, it is likely that the fitting on the lower hydraulic line was not properly tightened, which allowed it to back off due to normal engine vibration, resulting in the line loosening during engine start. Pressurized hydraulic fluid then sprayed onto the right exhaust shroud and ignited.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of maintenance personnel to ensure that a hydraulic line fitting was adequately secured during a conditional inspection, which resulted in a leak and subsequent on-ground fire.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/27/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1800 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Caldwell |
| Event State | IDAHO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 83605 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 433830N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1163808W |
| Event Location Airport | Caldwell Industrial |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KEUL |
| 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 | 2432 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1735 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | EUL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2432 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 31 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 40 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.94 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | KEUL 272335Z AUTO 04007KT 10SM CLR 31/08 A2994 RMK |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 27908 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 22 2010 3:40PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N86PB |
| NTSB Number | WPR10LA319 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PRIDMORE |
| Aircraft Model | LANCAIR IV |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | LIV 154 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3400 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| 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 | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 21 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 2 |
| Airframe Hours | 560 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | PRIDMORE-BROWN JULIAN N |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | LA GRANDE |
| Aircraft Owner State | OR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 97850-6218 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | PRIDMORE-BROWN JULIAN N |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | LA GRANDE |
| Operator State | OR |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 97850-6218 |
| 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) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | KEUL |
| Departure City | Caldwell |
| Departure State | ID |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | KLGD |
| Destination City | La Grande |
| Destination State | OR |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 22 2010 3:40PM |
| 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 | -- |