- Date
- March 29, 2007, 15:50 local (19:50 UTC)
- Place
- Woolsey, GA
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N1MQBeech BE-58
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 28, 2008
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Atlanta FSDO
- Case key
- 65555
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
In-flight fire of the right wing for undetermined reasons.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
According to the pilot, while in cruise flight at 2,500, feet he felt a "thump" and observed black smoke or soot on the outer third of the aileron. He made an emergency descent to a landing at a private airport. Examination of the right wing found extensive fire damage concentrated in the center of the wing, with ballooning of the wing skin, and soot trailing over the right aileron. The source of fuel/fuel vapor, or the ignition source that started the fire could not be identified due to the extent of the fire damage.
Factual narrative
On March 29, 2007, at 1550 eastern daylight time, a Beech BE-58, N1MQ, registered to Airway Partners LLC, operating as a 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight, experienced a right wing in-flight fire while on approach to the Spalding County Airport (6A2), Griffin, Georgia. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed , and no flight plan was filed. The airplane received substantial damage. The commercial pilot and two passengers reported no injuries. The flight departed Cobb County McCollum Airport (RYY), Marietta at 1530.
According to the pilot, while in cruise flight at 2,500 feet, he felt a "thump" and observed that the right wing had structural damage. He slowed the airplane to 120 knots to verify that he still had positive control of the ailerons. At that point he observed black smoke or soot on the outer third of the aileron, and believed that the wing was on fire at that time. He moved the right engine throttle to idle, feathered the propeller, and pulled the mixture to cut-off. He made an emergency descent to a landing at a private airport in Woolsey, Georgia. After landing, he and his passengers egressed the airplane and extinguish the fire on the right wing.
Examination of the right wing found extensive fire damage concentrated in the center of the wing, with ballooning of the wing skin, and soot trailing over the right aileron. Removal of the wing skin found heavy sooting within the wing cavity and molten aluminum. Also, observed were several pieces of fuel vent line, which had heat fractured into 3 to 4 inch pieces. No liquid fuel was observed and the fuel tank was not damaged. The source of fuel/fuel vapor, or the ignition source that started the fire could not be identified due to the extent of the fire damage.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1MQ
- Reported as
- Beech BE-58
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- TH-731
- Airframe hours
- 5,270
- Engines
- Continental IO-520C, 285 horsepower, reciprocatingContinental IO-520C, 285 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Fire
- In-Flight
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Richard B. Handley
- Registered owner
- Airway Partners LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 1, 2006 · 150 hours before
- Departed
- RYY · Marietta, GA
- Destination
- 6A2 · Griffin, GA
- Airport
- 3RU · Rusty Airstrip, runway 090, 2,750 × 120 ft, grass/turf
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 37
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- January 1, 2006
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 2,278 total · 130 in this make and model · 2,058 as pilot in command · 46 in the last 90 days · 19 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 6 statute miles
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 57 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.19 inHg
- Observed at
- FFC, 40 nm away
Docket · 5
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 14, 2008, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.5 MB in all.