19961217044949I

Incident · Minor damage

FAA incident report · Doug DC931 · Austin, TX · December 17, 1996

Date: December 17, 1996 · 18:50 local
Place: Austin, TX
Airport: Robert Mueller Municipal
Phase of flight: To Init Climb(1st Pwr Reduct)
Operating rules: Air carrier (Part 121)
Operator: NWAA
Damage: Minor damage
Aircraft: N9605
Reported as: Doug DC931
People aboard: 2
Fatal injuries: 0
Pilot’s flight hours: 6,997 total3,326 in this make and model109 in the last 90 days

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.

Narrative: start valve stayed open after #2 engine was started. Maintenance closed the valve manually as per MEL 80-2 and 80-1. After take off and during climb, the start valve again opened intermittently. The starter then disentegrated doing damage to the engine cowling and causing a fire. Engine was shut down, agent discarded and aircraft returned to Austin. It was discovered that nwaa approved MEL has no provision to electrically isolate the starter control valve. Agency competency. MEL has no provision to electrically isolate the starter control valve as all other carriers have.

As the FAA filed it

NARRATIVE: START VALVE STAYED OPEN AFTER #2 ENGINE WAS STARTED. MAINTENANCE CLOSED THE VALVE MANUALLY AS PER MEL 80-2 AND 80-1. AFTER TAKE OFF AND DURING CLIMB, THE START VALVE AGAIN OPENED INTERMITTENTLY. THE STARTER THEN DISENTEGRATED DOING DAMAGE TO THE ENGINE COWLING AND CAUSING A FIRE. ENGINE WAS SHUT DOWN, AGENT DISCARDED AND AIRCRAFT RETURNED TO AUSTIN. IT WAS DISCOVERED THAT NWAA APPROVED MEL HAS NO PROVISION TO ELECTRICALLY ISOLATE THE STARTER CONTROL VALVE. AGENCY COMPETENCY. MEL HAS NO PROVISION TO ELECTRICALLY ISOLATE THE STARTER CONTROL VALVE AS ALL OTHER CARRIERS HAVE.