Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Ukiah Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Williams, California 95987
Tuesady, February 12, 2013 11:30 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Having leveled off at cruise altitude, the passenger began to smell an electrical burning odor in the experimental airplane's cabin. Smoke then began to stream from the lower center console to the right of the pilot’s footwell. The passenger attempted to locate the source of the smoke while the pilot initiated an emergency descent. Shortly before landing, the footwell became engulfed in flames. During the landing flare, the airplane struck a group of trees and collided with a berm.
The majority of the airplane was consumed by fire; however, examination of the electrical wiring revealed arcing damage to one of the primary electrical supply lines in the area where the passenger reported the first traces of smoke. The wire connected the master solenoid to the airplane’s main system bus.
It is most likely that the wire’s insulation had become compromised, leading to its electrical conductor coming into contact with a metallic airframe component, resulting in a short circuit and fire. The pilot shut off the master solenoid during the descent, which would have halted the short circuit; but by then the fire had most likely already spread, possibly igniting the fuel supply components in that area. The fact that the master solenoid was off also negated the possibility that the short circuit occurred during the ground impact sequence.
The airplane’s construction consisted of automotive electrical wire and household PVC tubing for electrical conduit. Additionally, the battery and associated master solenoid wiring had been relocated three times since the airplane’s completion; however, it could not be determined if this construction or modification caused or contributed to the short circuit.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
An in-flight fire due to an electrical short circuit.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/12/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1130 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Williams |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95987 |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 390902n |
| Event Location Longitude | 1221303w |
| Event Location Airport | Ukiah |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | UKI |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 56 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 617 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1153 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 100 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KMYV |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 64 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 35 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| 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) | 8 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.31 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KMYV 131953Z AUTO 00000KT 8SM CLR 14/04 A303 |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 31498 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA LAX 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 9 2013 12:41PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N123ST |
| NTSB Number | WPR13LA122 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground and In-flight |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | ST CLAIR |
| Aircraft Model | LANCAIR 360 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 32 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1685 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 6 2012 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 25 |
| Airframe Hours | 126 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91 |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Lionel G Jahnke |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | UKIAH |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Lionel G Jahnke |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | UKIAH |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | KUKI |
| Departure City | Ukiah |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1100 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | KMEV |
| Destination City | Minden-Tahoe |
| Destination State | NV |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 18 2013 2:46PM |
| 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 | -- |