Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Chico, Texas 76431
Saturday, May 7, 2011 20:08 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
While en route to the destination airport, the pilot noted fluctuation in the engine speed. He diverted to a nearby airport and detected smoke, which increased in intensity. While performing an emergency landing to a highway, the airplane's nose landing gear would not extend. The pilot landed the airplane, which slid to a halt. A postaccident examination revealed thermal distortion to the airplane's nose gear door, which impeded normal operation of the nose landing gear. Clamps on the turbocharger's intermediate exhaust crossover tube were found to be unsecured, which would allow exhaust gases to damage the engine's accessories. The examination also found signatures of thermal distress to the fuel flow transducer and fuel flow transducer line. The unsecured clamps and heat signatures were consistent with exhaust gases compromising the fuel flow transducer line, which resulted in a source of ignition and fuel for the in-flight fire. No additional preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures were found that would have precluded normal operation. A review of maintenance logbooks noted that a propeller strike had occurred about 3 months before the accident and that repairs were completed about 1 month later, when the engine, including the turbocharger, was removed, cleaned, and inspected. The airplane had flown about 4 hours since the repair.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The mechanic's improper installation of the turbocharger's exhaust balance system, which resulted in an in-flight fire.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/7/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 2008 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Chico |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 76431 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | -- |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2015 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 175 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | XBP |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 852 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Dusk |
| 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) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 15 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 160 |
| 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) | 29.7 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KXBP 080115Z AUTO 16007KT 10SM CLR 28/15 A29 |
| 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) | 29619 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FTW FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 8 2012 4:52PM |
| User who most recently changed record | aguj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N80JB |
| NTSB Number | CEN11LA327 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground and In-flight |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA 46-350P |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 4622156 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4300 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 10 2011 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 5 |
| Airframe Hours | 2418 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CHRISTIAN AIR BROTHERHOOD LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 315 CENTRAL FWY E |
| Aircraft Owner City | WICHITA FALLS |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 76301 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | CHRISTIAN AIR BROTHERHOOD LLC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 315 CENTRAL FWY E |
| Operator City | WICHITA FALLS |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 76301 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | AFW |
| Departure City | Fort Worth |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1950 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | CWC |
| Destination City | Wichita Falls |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 26 2012 2:50PM |
| User who most recently changed record | aguj |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |