- Date
- February 25, 1989, 13:30 local (19:30 UTC)
- Place
- Ft. Madison, IA
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N4314RCessna 182RG
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 28, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890225002789A
- Case key
- 34756
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 wiring short that caused an in flight 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 plt said that shortly after takeoff and during initial climb, smoke was noticed coming from the defroster vent on the pax side. Turning downwind, the smoke became worse and erupted into a fire. The smoke, along with the charred windsield, limited visibility to the point that the pax door and the pilot's window were opened by the crew. This caused the fire to burn more intensely. The plt existed the acft after landing and coming to a full stop. The fire was extinguished by the local FBO. The acft was not equipped with a fire extinguisher. Post accident investigation revealed the hot wire from the amperage meter was rubbing on the fuel pressure indicator line, had shorted and burned through, causing the inflight fire in the cockpit. The acft was overdue annual and had accumulated about 234 hrs of flight time since the last inspection.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4314R
- Reported as
- Cessna 182RG
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- R182000589
- Airframe hours
- 927
- Engine
- Lycoming O-540-L3CD, 235 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Fire
- In-Flight
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Spears, Donald E.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 23, 1987 · 234 hours before
- Departed
- K27 · Ft. Madison, IA
- Destination
- 3DW · Springfield, MO
- Airport
- K27 · Ft. Madison, runway 16, 4,000 × 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
- 39
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 121 total · 45 in this make and model · 74 as pilot in command · 29 in the last 90 days · 7 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 150° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 8,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 41 °F, dew point 28 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- BRL, 15 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.
Other investigations on N4314R · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.