# NTSB CEN13LA365: Piper PA-32-301T, N4296T, Lansing, MI, June 19, 2013 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report - Date: June 19, 2013, 14:18 local (19:18 UTC) - Place: Lansing, MI - Coordinates: 42.789989, -84.589958 (estimated) - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=42.7900&lon=-84.5900&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Taxi](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/250) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Defining event: [Taxi-to runway: Fire/smoke (non-impact)](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/150) - Highest injury: No injuries - Injuries: 1 uninjured - Status: Completed, report June 2, 2014 - Report: Approved by Office Director - NTSB office: Central Region - Parties: Federal Aviation Administration - NTSB case key (mKey): 87266 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=CEN13LA365 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/87266/pdf - NTSB docket: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=87266 - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CEN13LA365 ## Probable cause The pilot’s failure to follow the airplane checklist, which resulted in the parking brake not being released before taxi and a subsequent brake fire. ## Findings NTSB's coded findings; those marked are part of the probable cause. - [Landing gear system: brake](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01023242): Aircraft › Aircraft systems · Unintentional use/operation (probable cause); cases with it: [Piper PA-32-301T, 1 case](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01023242/cases.md?model=7103209), [All aircraft, 297 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01023242/cases.md) - [Action: incorrect action performance](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02041015): Personnel issues › Action/decision · Pilot (probable cause); cases with it: [Piper PA-32-301T, 1 case](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02041015/cases.md?model=7103209), [All aircraft, 1,386 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02041015/cases.md) - [Use of equip/info: use of checklist](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02063030): Personnel issues › Task performance · Pilot (probable cause); cases with it: [Piper PA-32-301T, 1 case](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02063030/cases.md?model=7103209), [All aircraft, 336 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02063030/cases.md) ## Sequence of events The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event best describes what happened. - [Prior to flight: Aircraft inspection event](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/050); cases with it: [Piper PA-32-301T, 1 case](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/050/sequence.md?model=7103209), [All aircraft, 229 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/050/sequence.md) - [Taxi-to runway: Fire/smoke (non-impact)](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/150) (defining event); cases with it: [Piper PA-32-301T, 2 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/150/sequence.md?model=7103209), [All aircraft, 504 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/150/sequence.md) ## Analysis The pilot was taxiing the airplane and thought that it needed more power to taxi, so he stopped and shut down the airplane. The pilot exited and saw black smoke from both main landing gear fairings as a result of a brake fire. He attempted to extinguish the fire using a handheld fire extinguisher. The fire continued, and the pilot later called airport rescue firefighting to successfully extinguish the fire. The pilot did not disengage the parking braking before taxiing; he stated that the accident could have been prevented if he had followed the airplane checklist to check the parking brake setting. ## Factual narrative On June 19, 2013, about 1418 central daylight time, a Piper PA-32-301T, N4296T, experienced a brake fire during taxi for takeoff at Capital Region International Airport (LAN), Lansing, Michigan. The pilot did not release the parking brake prior to taxi. The airplane sustained substantial damage to both wings. The private pilot was uninjured. The airplane was registered to and operated by the pilot under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight that was not operating on a flight plan. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight that was originating at the time of the accident and was destined to Kirsch Municipal Airport (IRS), Sturgis, Michigan. The pilot stated that he taxied the airplane from the ramp to runway 28L via taxiway Bravo. He did not notice anything wrong at first, but he began to perceive the need for more power to maintain taxi speed. He contacted the air traffic control tower and obtained permission to shut down and exit the airplane on the taxiway to investigate the problem. He noticed a significant amount of black smoke from within both main wheel fairings and flames from beneath the left main wheel fairing at the base of the left main tire. He realized at that moment that heat from an engaged parking brake was the likely cause. He ran around to the airplane cabin for a fire extinguisher and tried to disengage the brake, but it would not move from the engaged position. In wiggling the brake handle back and forth, he only succeeded in engaging it further. He thought he had extinguished the fire. He then noticed flames beneath the wheel fairing on the right, which he extinguished. The amount of smoke emanating from both wheel fairings became substantially greater, and he felt the tires were still burning from within the fairings. He ran back to the cockpit and called the air traffic tower for help. By the time he had walked about twenty feet from the plane, he looked back to see that flames had engulfed both main wheel fairings and were lapping at the underside of both wings. He began to run, fearing an explosion. Airport rescue and firefighting arrived within about 30 seconds and quickly extinguished the fire. The pilot stated that the parking hand brake was partially engaged by the staff at a fixed base operator after towing the airplane from the shop to the ramp tie-down area the preceding evening. He said that he did not recognize that the parking brake was set before beginning to taxi. The pilot stated that the accident could have been prevented through "better use of checklist to include the parking brake for engagement status prior to taxi." ## Aircraft - Registration: [N4296T](https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N4296T), registered now, S/N 32-8324009, built 1983 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: PIPER PA-32-301T - Registry model: [Piper PA-32-301T](https://openairdocs.org/model/piper-pa-32-301t) (registry code 7103209) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Lycoming TI0-540 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/lycoming-ti0-540-series) (registry code 41533, turbo-prop) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane - Serial number: 32-8324009 - Year built: 1983 - Airframe hours: 2362 - Engines: Lycoming TIO-540-S1AD 300 horsepower reciprocating - Damage: Substantial damage - Fire: On-Ground - Flight: Personal, Part 91 - Operator: Pilot - Registered owner: Pilot - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal - Last inspection: Annual, December 7, 2012 - Departed: LAN, Lansing, MI - Destination: IRS, Sturgis, MI - Airport: LAN, Capital Region International A ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 51; injuries: none; private; airplane ratings: single-engine land; instrument ratings: airplane; medical: class 3, with waivers/limitations; last flight review August 14, 2012; seat: left; restraint: 3-point; flight hours: 353 total, 180 in this make and model, 279 as pilot in command, 18 in the last 90 days, 10 in the last 30 days, 0 in the last 24 hours ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day - Wind: variable at 3 knots - Visibility: 10 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: none - Temperature: 70 °F, dew point 46 °F - Altimeter: 30.17 inHg - Observed at: LAN ## FAA reports on this event (1) The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 20130619009429A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20130619009429A), Jun 19, 2013: Piper PA-32-301T, Lansing, MI, Substantial damage. At about 1430 EDT on June 19, 2013, the sole occupant pilot[privacy data omitted] of a Piper PA32-301T single engine airplane N4296T, taxied the airplane over… ## Docket (1 files) The files NTSB released with the investigation on March 27, 2014, on NTSB's docket system: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=87266. 254 KB in all. - Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report, NTSB Form 6120.1 (item 1, .PDF, 254 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40410764&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Pilot%2FOperator%20Aircraft%20Accident%20Report,%20NTSB%20Form%206120.1-Master.PDF From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.