- Date
- July 24, 2020, 08:00 UTC
- Place
- Charlotte, NC
- Injuries
- 30 uninjured
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N561NNBombardier CL-600-2D24
- Defining event
- Initial climb: Fire/smoke (non-impact)
- Weather
- Dawn
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 3
- NTSB office
- Aviation Engineering Division
- Parties
- AvTechYee, FAA, PPG, PSA Airlines
- Case key
- 101965
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the incident.
On this page
Probable cause
The NTSB’s determination of the probable cause, and any contributing factors.
The windshield failed due to arcing from an inadequate solder connection at the anti-ice power terminal block.
Findings · 1
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings.
Analysis
The arcing/overheating of the braid wire caused the fire event in the cockpit. Removal of the terminal block and sealant revealed an arcing hot spot where the failure occurred at power braid wire position A. There was no visible solder at the connection point of braid wire A, which led to the arcing of the power braid wire and the fire event in the cockpit.
Factual narrative
The damaged left side windshield (P/N NP139321-17 S/N 18338H6714) from N561NN was removed from the airplane and shipped to PPG Aerospace in Huntsville, Alabama. PPG examined the window in November 2020. The windshield serial number indicated that the windshield was a new unit and was completed in December of 2018. The subject windshield was installed on N561NN and had accumulated 3238.53 flight hours and 2870 flight cycles. PPG Aerospace completed manufacture of the window in December 2018. A teardown of the unit identified the failure origin underneath the power terminal block at the power braid A location. Removal of the terminal block and sealant revealed an arcing hot spot where the failure occurred at power braid wire position A. There was no visible solder at the connection point of braid wire A. The braid wire solder connection point at position B was still intact.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N561NN
- Reported as
- Bombardier CL-600-2D24 (900)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15346
- Built
- 2014
- Engines
- GE CF34-8C5, 14,510 lbs thrust, turbo fanGE CF34-8C5, 14,510 lbs thrust, turbo fan
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Fire
- In-Flight
- Flight
- Part 121
- Operator
- PSA Airlines
- Registered owner
- American Airlines Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Transport
- Departed
- HPN · White Plains, NY
- Destination
- CLT · Charlotte, NC
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- CLT · Charlotte/Douglas Intl
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.
Weather
- Conditions
- Dawn