Incident Details
On 19 September 2015 at 1300 UTC, a Piper PA-28-161 Cadet (registration G-CEZO) was involved in an accident at Fairoaks Airport, Surrey. The flight was a training sortie with two crew and one passenger on board. No injuries were reported. The aircraft sustained fire damage to the engine and engine bay.
Aircraft and Crew
The aircraft, manufactured in 1989 (serial no. 2841226), was powered by a single Lycoming O-320-D3G piston engine. The commander, aged 23, held a Commercial Pilot's Licence and had accumulated 689 flying hours, of which 153 were on type. In the previous 90 days, he had flown 165 hours, with 46 hours in the last 28 days.
Sequence of Events
After completing pre-flight checks, the pilot attempted to start the engine. Since the engine was still hot from an earlier flight, the primer pump was not used. The first start attempt failed. The engine was then primed, and a second attempt was made, which also failed. A third start attempt followed after re-priming. During this attempt, the pilot initially set the fuel mixture control to idle/cut-off to clear excess fuel from the carburettor and engine, then moved it to full rich. The engine still did not start.
After waiting several minutes, the pilot re-primed the engine and attempted a fourth start. During this start, a significant volume of smoke began emerging from beneath the engine cowlings. The aircraft was evacuated immediately without injury, and the Airport Fire and Rescue Service (AFRS) extinguished a fire that was confined to the engine bay.
Aftermath and Inspection
Post-event inspection of the engine revealed evidence of oil leaking onto the exhaust from the lower engine cowling. The fire is believed to have been caused by over-fuelling of the engine and the presence of oil on the engine exhaust.