Cessna 172RG N5145U

Summary

On 28 September 2010 at about 15:38 local time, a Cessna 172RG registered N5145U, operated by Spartan Aviation Industries, Inc., was involved in an accident near Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States. 2 people were on board and one was seriously injured, one had minor injuries. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

28 September 2010 at 15:38

Classification

Accident

Location

Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States

Nearest airport

Richard Lloyd Jones Jr. (RVS)

Coordinates

36.0397, -95.9847

Aircraft

Cessna 172RG

Registration

N5145U

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Spartan Aviation Industries, Inc.

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Tulsa → Tulsa

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN10LA572

1 person was seriously injured.

A shorted terminal lug on the landing gear hydraulic pump which resulted in a cabin fire. Contributing to the accident was the lack of clear installation procedures for the hydraulic pump.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to the certified flight instructor (CFI), the landing gear was lowered once during the instructional flight while practicing a slow flight maneuver. When the pilots returned to the airport and lowered the landing gear in preparation for landing, flames erupted from under the instrument panel and the carpet on the floor caught fire. The pilots declared an emergency before the radio failed. They pulled the mixture control to the idle cutoff position, but the fuel selector could not be turned off due to the flames. The cabin filled with smoke, the instruments were unreadable, and the pilots had difficulty breathing. The CFI opened his (left) door, causing the airplane to yaw to the left, and he used right rudder to compensate, while the rudder pedals were engulfed in flames. In the ensuing forced landing, the instructor was able to avoid power lines but was unable to clear a fence. The airplane struck the fence and came to a stop suddenly. Examination of the airplane revealed that the terminal lug on the hydraulic pump was improperly covered and had shorted. Additionally, the installation procedures for the hydraulic pump did not provide clear guidance on the proper method to cap the terminal lug.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.