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| Date: | Thursday 23 July 2020 |
| Time: | 15:58 |
| Type: |  Piper PA-28RT-201T Turbo Arrow IV |
| Owner/operator: | Private |
| Registration: | HB-PNP |
| MSN: | 28R-8131037 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1981 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 3 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Basel/Mulhouse/Freiburg EuroAirport (BSL/LFSB) -
 France
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Basel/Mulhouse/Freiburg EuroAirport (BSL/LFSB) |
| Basel/Mulhouse/Freiburg EuroAirport (BSL/LFSB) | |
| Investigating agency: | BEA |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The Piper PA-28RT-201T Turbo Arrow IV at Basel/Mulhouse/Freiburg EuroAirport (BSL) after a fire had developed during a test flight.
The accident flight was the first flight with the aeroplane following the installation of new avionics and an autopilot. The purpose of this flight was to test the correct operation of these new equipment items and for the owner of the aeroplane to familiarize himself with their use. Taking part in the flight were the owner of the aeroplane, an electronics technician who had participated in the work and the pilot who was an instructor and had already carried out a check flight on this type of aeroplane after similar work.
The pilot took off at 15:17 from runway 15 at BSL. The first minutes into the flight were normal and the various tests of the autopilot and flight director were satisfactory. After a flight time of around 15 minutes, between waypoint ALTIK and the final for runway 15, the pilot observed an ammeter charge indication close to 70 A which corresponds to the needle being close to the indicator’s limit.
This charge value was a lot higher than the values expected for such a flight phase, which are normally between 10 and 30 A.
The pilot cut off the alternator (using the Master ALT switch) and observed that the ammeter then indicated zero. When he switched the alternator back on, the ammeter again indicated a constant value of around 70 A. The pilot and his passengers presumed that the battery was discharged and that its recharge called on the alternator. They decided to continue with the planned flight programme. The pilot joined the final for runway 15, carried out a missed approach at around 3,000 ft and then continued with an ILS approach for runway 33.
While climbing to 7,000 ft, the pilot and his passengers perceived a smell in the cabin that the pilot described as an electrical smell. The pilot suspected an incipient fire and decided to carry out an emergency landing on runway 33. He announced to the controller, “We have to abort the exercise actually we have an electrical problem. Request from position short approach 3 3 and land.” The controller cleared him to land on runway 33. In the seconds that followed, smoke from the luggage hold and then flames spread into the cabin. The pilot started a quick descent and isolated the battery and alternator by setting the Master BAT and Master ALT switches to OFF. He managed to land on runway 33.
While the aeroplane was still running on the runway at a speed which the pilot estimated as being between 30 and 40 kt, the three occupants evacuated the aeroplane. The owner of the aeroplane who was in the front right seat was the first to evacuate the aircraft. He was fatally injured on hitting the runway. The passenger in the rear seat was severely burnt.
BEA France concluded that incorrect insulation at the attaching point of the diode device cooler very probably resulted in an electrical continuity between this cooler and the aeroplane floor. As a result of this short-circuit, the aeroplane's alternator delivered its maximum power, explaining the excessive current observed by the pilot and his passengers during the event.
This excessive current very probably led to intense overheating of the diode device in the area of the short-circuit followed by the ignition of the ABS plastic protective cover. The flames then spread inside the compartment and the luggage hold. The tests showed that the ABS cover was an aggravating factor in the spread of the fire.
The investigation was not able to determine the exact cause of the incorrect insulation between the diode device cooler and the aeroplane floor which led to the short-circuit. It might be explained by a combination of the following:
• wear of the insulating washers and,
• indirect consequence of the work carried out during the installation of the new avionics (device being accidentally knocked, introduction of ferrous residue during drilling operations, etc.)
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://www.aerotelegraph.com/flughafen-basel-nach-unfall-gesperrt-piper-pa-28
https://www.badische-zeitung.de/63-jaehriger-aus-zell-nach-flugzeugunfall-am-euroairport-gestorben
https://www.leparisien.fr/faits-divers/aeroport-de-bale-mulhouse-un-avion-de-tourisme-en-feu-trois-blesses-dont-deux-graves-23-07-2020-8357940.php#xtor=AD-1481423553
_____________________
https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/hb-pnp#25040207
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EuroAirport_Basel_Mulhouse_Freiburg
Location
Images:
Photo: BEA
Media:
⚠️Accident mortel du #PIPER #PA28 HB-PNP survenu le 23/07/20 à @euroairportcom / Incendie en vol. Au cours de l'atterrissage, les trois occupants évacuent l'avion / 1 enquêteur de première information rejoint par 4 enquêteurs @BEA_Aero se sont rendus sur place / Travaux en cours. pic.twitter.com/qSiP1DZywU
— BEA ✈️ ?? ?? (@BEA_Aero) July 30, 2020
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 23-Jul-2020 19:45 | Rumbachtaler | Added |
| 23-Jul-2020 19:47 | harro | Updated [Aircraft type, Cn, Narrative, ] |
| 23-Jul-2020 21:25 | Geno | Updated [Total occupants, Location, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 23-Jul-2020 23:55 | RobertMB | Updated [Operator, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Damage, Narrative, ] |
| 24-Jul-2020 07:44 | ctyone | Updated [Total occupants, Narrative, ] |
| 24-Jul-2020 08:59 | Iceman 29 | Updated [Time, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative, ] |
| 24-Jul-2020 14:40 | Anon. | Updated [Location, Country, Embed code, ] |
| 24-Jul-2020 14:49 | harro | Updated [Departure airport, Destination airport, ] |
| 30-Jul-2020 05:41 | Anon. | Updated [Total fatalities, ] |
| 30-Jul-2020 05:42 | harro | Updated [Source, ] |
| 30-Jul-2020 14:37 | harro | Updated [Location, Embed code, Damage, ] |
| 02-Aug-2020 14:11 | Anon. | Updated [Embed code, Narrative, ] |
| 12-Dec-2020 16:54 | harro | Updated [Photo, ] |
| 03-Jul-2022 07:01 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location, ] |
| 27-Dec-2024 15:57 | ASN | Updated [Embed code, Narrative, Accident report, ] |
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