Incident Overview
On June 19, 2013, at approximately 1418 central daylight time, a Piper PA-32-301T, registration N4296T, experienced a brake fire during taxi for takeoff at Capital Region International Airport (LAN) in Lansing, Michigan. The aircraft was operated by the private pilot under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and the flight was destined for Kirsch Municipal Airport (IRS) in Sturgis, Michigan.
Pilot Actions and Discovery
The pilot taxied the airplane from the ramp to runway 28L via taxiway Bravo. Initially, nothing appeared abnormal, but the pilot noticed that more power was needed to maintain taxi speed. He contacted the air traffic control tower and obtained permission to shut down and exit the airplane on the taxiway to investigate. Upon inspection, he observed a significant amount of black smoke emanating from both main wheel fairings and flames from beneath the left main wheel fairing at the base of the left main tire. He realized that heat from an engaged parking brake was the likely cause.
Firefighting Efforts
The pilot retrieved a fire extinguisher from the cabin and attempted to disengage the parking brake, but it would not move from the engaged position. In wiggling the brake handle, he only succeeded in engaging it further. He thought he had extinguished the fire, but then noticed flames beneath the right wheel fairing, which he also extinguished. The amount of smoke from both wheel fairings increased substantially, and he felt the tires were still burning within the fairings. He returned to the cockpit and called the air traffic control tower for assistance. As he walked about twenty feet from the airplane, he looked back to see that flames had engulfed both main wheel fairings and were lapping at the underside of both wings. He began to run, fearing an explosion. Airport rescue and firefighting arrived within approximately 30 seconds and quickly extinguished the fire.
Cause and Contributing Factors
The pilot stated that the parking hand brake had been partially engaged by staff at a fixed base operator after towing the airplane from the shop to the ramp tie-down area the preceding evening. He did not recognize that the parking brake was set before beginning to taxi. The pilot noted that the accident could have been prevented through "better use of checklist to include the parking brake for engagement status prior to taxi."
Damage and Injuries
The airplane sustained substantial damage to both wings. The private pilot was uninjured.