- Date
- October 4, 1991, 16:00 local (20:00 UTC)
- Place
- Vieques, PR
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N563PRPiper PA-32-260
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 8, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19911004050719A
- Case key
- 33019
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
Inadequate aircraft maintenance inspection resulting in the defective muffler which failed and caused an inflight 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
Shortly after departure pilot heard a loud bang from the engine area and began to smell smoke. He returned to the airport and made an uneventful landing. After landing he exited the aircraft and ground crews extinguished a fire which had erupted in the engine compartment. The fire had burned through the baggage compartment. Examination of the aircraft by FAA inspectors indicated the exhaust pipe had separated from the muffler allowing engine exhaust to exit escape into the engine compartment.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N563PR
- Reported as
- Piper PA-32-260
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 32-7200027
- Airframe hours
- 5,696
- Engine
- Lycoming O-540-E4B5, 260 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Fire
- In-Flight
- Flight
- Positioning · Part 91
- Operator
- Alas Del Caribe
- Registered owner
- Alas Del Caribe
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 7, 1991 · 14 hours before
- Destination
- STT · St. Thomas
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
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 2,200 total · 1,100 in this make and model · 2,053 as pilot in command · 240 in the last 90 days · 80 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 50° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 40 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 75 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- STX, 50 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.