19791008051819I

Incident · Destroyed

FAA incident report · Cessna 421 · Pontiac, MI · October 8, 1979

Date: October 8, 1979 · 23:00 local
Place: Pontiac, MI
Airport: Oakland
Phase of flight: Starting Engines
Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
Damage: Destroyed
Aircraft: N23RC
Reported as: Cessna 421
Fatal injuries: 0
Pilot’s flight hours: 12,500 total2,000 in this make and model0 in the last 90 days

N23RCRegistration cancelled Jul 13, 2009 · Cessna 421S/N 421-0042 · Built 1967 Airframe modelCessna 421 Engine modelContinental IO-520 seriesReciprocating

From the FAA’s Accident/Incident Data System (AIDS), through its Aviation Safety Information Portal, as reported. The NTSB investigates accidents separately, and its record of an accident is the fuller one. The aircraft is matched to the registry by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

What happened

The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.

Pilot overprimed engine to start. It backfired and caught fire. Pilot evacuated, boost and master on.

As the FAA filed it

PILOT OVERPRIMED ENGINE TO START. IT BACKFIRED AND CAUGHT FIRE. PILOT EVACUATED, BOOST AND MASTER ON.