- Date
- May 24, 2007, 12:30 local (17:30 UTC)
- Place
- Lubbock, TX
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N255ERPiper PA-44-180
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 27, 2007
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Lubbock, Texas
- FAA report
- 20070524008149A
- Case key
- 65853
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
The failure of the engine fuel supply line and the separation of the number one cylinder exhaust pipe resulting in an engine fire.
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
The 1,730-hour flight instructor and a student pilot performed a normal engine run-up in a twin-engine airplane prior to a local training flight. The run-up did not reveal any anomalies and the airplane was clear to taxi to runway 35L. The right engine lost power while the airplane was holding short to take the active runway. The student pilot attempted to restart the right engine when he noticed "flames coming from the bottom of the engine cowling." The flight instructor and the student pilot exited the airplane through the cabin door without injuries. Airport rescue and fire fighting (ARFF) personnel responded to the aircraft fire and extinguished the fire. A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector, who responded to the scene, reported that the right engine nacelle sustained structural damage as result of the engine fire. Additionally, the inspector found the exhaust stack for the number one cylinder had separated. The inspector also reported that the braided fuel line leaked when the line was pres
Factual narrative
The 1,730-hour flight instructor and a student pilot performed a normal engine run-up in a twin-engine airplane prior to a local training flight. The run-up did not reveal any anomalies and the airplane was clear to taxi to runway 35L. The right engine lost power while the airplane was holding short to take the active runway. The student pilot attempted to restart the right engine when he noticed "flames coming from the bottom of the engine cowling." The flight instructor and the student pilot exited the airplane through the cabin door without injuries. Airport rescue and fire fighting (ARFF) personnel responded to the aircraft fire and extinguished the fire. A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector, who responded to the scene, reported that the right engine nacelle sustained structural damage as result of the engine fire. Additionally, the inspector found the exhaust stack for the number one cylinder had separated. The inspector also reported that the braided fuel line leaked when the line was pressure tested.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N255ER
- Reported as
- Piper PA-44-180
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 44-8195004
- Engines
- Lycoming O-360-E1A6D, 180 horsepower, reciprocatingLycoming LO-360-E1A6D, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- William Ebert
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- KLBB · Lubbock, TX
- Destination
- KTUL · Tulsa, OK
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- LBB · Lubbock Preston Smith Int.
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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Flight instructor
- Age
- 24
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 1,730 total · 140 in this make and model · 1,440 as pilot in command · 210 in the last 90 days · 155 in the last 30 days · 8 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Student pilot
- Injuries
- None
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 40° at 16 knots, gusting 22
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 20,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.18 inHg
- Observed at
- LBB
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.