- Date
- December 12, 2021, 13:50 local (19:50 UTC)
- Place
- Abbeville, LA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N1477DAmerican Legend AL18
- Defining event
- Initial climb: Electrical system malf/failure
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20211212021179A
- Case key
- 104404
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
An electrical fire for reasons that could not be determined.
Findings · 2
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot reported that after takeoff, he turned onto the downwind leg of the traffic pattern and smelled an electrical odor. He continued to land, stopped the airplane, and shut off the engine and electrical systems. As he tried to determine where the smell originated, he saw smoke from the rear seat area and then he saw flames from the left side of the airplane. He exited the airplane and it continued to burn. The airplane sustained fire damage to the fuselage and both wings. In a telephone conversation with the pilot, he noted that the only electrical components he was aware of in the area where he first saw the smoke was near the electronic connector for his active noise-cancelling headset. Due to the amount of fire damage, it was not possible to determine the source of the electrical fire.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1477D
- Reported as
- American Legend AL18
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- AL-1238
- Built
- 2021
- Engine
- Cont Motor OX-340 SERIES, 180 horsepower
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- Both
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- American Legend Aircraft Co
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental light sport (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 28, 2021
- Airport
- IYA · Abbeville Chris Crusta Memorial Airport, runway 34, 5,000 × 75 ft, asphalt
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
- 64
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Sport pilot
- Last flight review
- May 10, 2020
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 2,100 total · 30 in this make and model · 12 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 30° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 61 °F, dew point 36 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.23 inHg
- Observed at
- KIYA, 3 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KIYA 121955Z AUTO 03007KT 10SM CLR 16/02 A3023 RMK AO2 T01610023=
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on April 28, 2022, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 732 KB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.