Event Overview
On January 28, 2017, at about 1400 eastern standard time, a Piper PA-22-150, registration N3659Z, was destroyed following an in-flight fire after departing runway 28 at Delaware Coastal Airport (GED), Georgetown, Delaware. The private pilot, the sole occupant, sustained minor injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the personal flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
Pilot's Account
Before departure, the pilot checked the engine oil level, performed a visual inspection of the engine compartment, and conducted an engine run-up, with no anomalies noted. After takeoff, while climbing through 1,400 feet, the pilot observed thick smoke emanating from behind the instrument panel and the glareshield. He attempted to return to GED and opened the left door vent to evacuate smoke and search for a landing runway. He then noticed flames near his feet and legs. While sideslipping the airplane, burning portions of the roof lining began to fall on him. The aircraft continued to descend. During the landing roll, the pilot reduced the throttle and mixture to shut down the engine. He pulled the brake handle, but the airplane did not decelerate. The pilot then egressed while the airplane was still moving. The airplane came to rest on a grass area off the right side of runway 4.
Aircraft Information
According to Federal Aviation Administration records, the airplane was manufactured in 1960 and registered to the pilot on June 13, 1990. It was equipped with a Lycoming O-320-A2B engine rated at 150 horsepower. Maintenance logbooks indicated the most recent annual inspection was performed on January 1, 2017, at a total time of 3,740.5 hours, about 2 operational hours before the accident. The Piper PA-22 Owner's Manual describes the fuel system: two 18-gallon wing fuel tanks drain individually via a fuel selector valve on the left forward cabin wall; the main fuel strainer is on the lower left engine side of the firewall; and the engine primer pump on the right side of the instrument panel draws fuel from the main gascolator and pumps it directly to all four cylinders.
Fire Examination
Initial examination revealed that the fuselage, empennage, and right wing were consumed by fire; the left wing was partially consumed. The engine remained attached to the fuselage, and the propeller remained attached to the engine. An NTSB fire protection engineer examined the wreckage and determined that the pilot's description of the fire sequence was consistent with a liquid fuel-fed fire. Several sections of the fuel system were consumed by fire. The fuel selector valve was thermally damaged and its function could not be verified. The output fuel line from the fuel selector to the firewall and the input fuel line from the right wing tank were consumed by fire. The engine primer pump was not located; its fuel lines inside the cockpit were consumed by fire. Small sections of copper primer pump fuel lines found on the firewall had melted ends. Primer lines in the engine compartment remained intact and did not appear to leak. The main fuel line from the fuel strainer to the carburetor, located on the left side of the engine compartment, was found loose at the carburetor end. The lower left portion of the engine cowling exhibited more thermal damage than the right side.