Palmer SEAWIND 3000 N8025Q

Summary

On 11 July 2006 at about 00:24 local time, a Palmer SEAWIND 3000 registered N8025Q was involved in an accident near Havasu Lake, California, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

11 July 2006 at 00:24

Classification

Accident

Location

Havasu Lake, California, United States

Nearest airport

Lake Havasu City (HII)

Coordinates

34.5536, -114.3997

Aircraft

Palmer SEAWIND 3000

Registration

N8025Q

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Lake Havasu Cit → Murrieta/Temecu

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX06LA228

Nobody was injured.

an electrical fire due to improper wiring of the electrical system by other maintenance personnel.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The amphibious airplane was destroyed in a ground fire following a forced landing. During the takeoff initial climb out, electrical fumes and smoke emanated from the right side portion of the instrument panel. A successful water landing was made; however, a post impact fire consumed the airplane. Examination of the airplane revealed that it was equipped with two batteries that were interconnected with each other and positioned in the right side nose/storage compartment area. Both batteries' cables were connected to a single MASTER solenoid and a single START solenoid. A burn mark was located in the battery compartment that was the size and position of the negative cable for the right side battery. The storage area for the batteries was not damaged; however, the cockpit was consumed in the post impact fire. Further inspection of the airplane's electrical wiring revealed that the groundside of the forward battery had been wired to the hot side of the START solenoid that resulted in a reverse polarity draw during engine start. The protective covering for the wires burned away exposing the wires that then came into contact with each other and started the fire. Recent maintenance work on the airplane included movement of both batteries to the right side, and a rewire of the cables to the MASTER and START solenoids.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.