Incident Details
A pilot conducted a short cross-country flight to drop off a passenger. After the passenger's baggage was unloaded, the pilot returned to the airplane to depart. During the initial attempt to restart the engine, a small flame emerged from the exhaust pipe. The pilot interpreted this as the engine exhaust being overheated and decided to let it cool down. He waited approximately 10 minutes before attempting to restart the engine again.
Pilot Actions
Before the second restart attempt, the pilot performed a visual inspection of the engine compartment and observed that everything was in proper working order. However, during the second attempt to restart the engine, the exhaust pipe caught fire. The pilot immediately exited the airplane and attempted to extinguish the fire, but his efforts were unsuccessful. He then tried to push the airplane away from the flames, but the fire was streaming from the engine compartment. The stream of fire led to the engine compartment, where the fire became intense and ultimately consumed the entire airplane.