- Date
- September 7, 1982, 14:15 local (19:15 UTC)
- Place
- St. Louis, MO
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N6868DCessna 421C
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 7, 1983
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19820907058929I
- Case key
- 72704
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the incident.
On this page
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
Pilot reported, the flight encountered icing conditions near St. Louis and the propeller de-ice system was activated. When de-ice system was turned on, flames shot out from the lower right corner of the pilot's instument panel where the de-ice ammeter is located. The pilot turned off the propeller de-ice switch and the flames stopped. The aircraft landed without further incident. Examination of the propeller de-ice ammeter revealed that it was shorted to the instument panel. The ammeter had been moved to this location on the instrument panel prior to the flight.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6868D
- Reported as
- Cessna 421C
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 1054
- Airframe hours
- 12
- Engine
- Continental GTSIO-520-N, 375 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Fire
- In-Flight
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- R. Harris Russo
- Registered owner
- R. Harris Russo
- Departed
- AZO · Kalamazoo, MI
- Destination
- Wichita, KS
- Flight plan
- IFR
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 30
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 3,000 total · 650 in this make and model · 2,900 as pilot in command · 120 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.