ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 269750
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| Date: | Saturday 20 November 2021 |
| Time: | 17:55 |
| Type: |  Cessna 207A Stationair 8 |
| Owner/operator: | Yute Commuter Service |
| Registration: | N9794M |
| MSN: | 20700730 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1981 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 15727 hours |
| Engine model: | Continental IO-520-R |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 6 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | near Bethel Airport (BET/PABE), AK -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Passenger - Scheduled |
| Departure airport: | Bethel Airport, AK (BET/PABE) |
| Kwethluk, AK | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
On November 20, 2021, about 1755 Alaska standard time, a Cessna 207 airplane, N9794M, sustained substantial damage when it was involved in an accident near Bethel, Alaska. The pilot and five passengers were not injured. The airplane was operated by Yute Commuter Service as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 135 scheduled passenger flight.
The pilot was conducting a scheduled air taxi flight with five passengers onboard. Shortly after departure, the pilot began to smell an electrical burn odor, and he elected to return to the airport. About 1 minute later, the electrical burn smell intensified, which was followed by visible smoke in the cockpit, and the pilot declared an emergency to the tower. After landing and all the passengers had safely departed the airplane, heavy smoke filled the cockpit and passenger compartment, and the pilot saw a candle-like flame just behind the pilot and co-pilot seats, just beneath the floorboards of the airplane. Moments later, the airplane was engulfed in flames.
Postaccident examination of the airframe revealed the origin of the fire to be centered behind the pilot’s row of seats, where a wire harness was found improperly installed on top of the aft fuel line from the left tank. Examination of the wire harness found a range of thermal and electrical damage consistent with chafing from the fuel line. It is likely that the installation of the wire harness permitted contact with the fuel line, which resulted in chafing, arcing, and the subsequent fire.
Probable Cause: The improper installation of an avionics wire harness over a fuel line, which resulted in chafing of the wire harness, arcing, and a subsequent fire.
As a result of the NTSB investigation, the FAA issued a notification letter to alert registered aircraft owners and operators of the need to inspect the area inside inspection panels from the rear door frame forward under the pilots and passengers’ floorboards at the next maintenance function, 100 hour, or Annual inspections. FAA database records indicate there is over 200 aircraft that had the CAPSTONE phase 1 equipment installation under STC2154AK and therefore need to be inspected.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://www.alaskasnewssource.com/2021/11/21/yute-airplane-crashes-near-bethel/
https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=104287
https://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/Search/NNumberResult?NNumbertxt=9794M
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 3 August 2001 | N9794M | Denali Air Taxi, Inc. | 0 | Healy, AK | |
sub |
Location
Images:
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 22-Nov-2021 07:24 | gerard57 | Added |
| 22-Nov-2021 07:37 | harro | Updated [Location, Departure airport] |
| 22-Nov-2021 12:15 | RobertMB | Updated [Time, Location, Phase, Damage, Narrative] |
| 23-Nov-2021 15:02 | harro | Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Source] |
| 23-Nov-2021 20:54 | RobertMB | Updated [Aircraft type, Narrative] |
| 24-Nov-2021 20:41 | Captain Adam | Updated [Narrative] |
| 17-Dec-2021 19:27 | Captain Adam | Updated [Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Category] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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