Cessna P210N N731NX

Summary

On 15 October 1997 at about 16:36 local time, a Cessna P210N registered N731NX was involved in an incident near Bryce Canyon, Utah, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was slightly damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

15 October 1997 at 16:36

Classification

Incident

Location

Bryce Canyon, Utah, United States

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Cessna P210N

Registration

N731NX

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Public Use

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Grand Junction → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Minor

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

FTW98TA051

Nobody was injured.

The failure of the resistor (inverter) in the door seal pressurization air pump due to continuous operation. Factors were a failure in the door seal pressurization system, its inadequate design by the manufacturer, its inadequate written instructions for installation and operation, and the installation of the improper electrical fuse by unknown persons.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot said that smoke began coming into the cockpit and 'I could hardly see the propeller.' He stated that 'at that point, we discovered the indicator light for the cabin door seal pressurization pump was on.' The pilot believes that it had been operating continuously due to an air leak in the system. In order to eliminate electrical power to the pressurization pump, the pilot turned the master switch off. After landing the airplane, the pilot located a fire in the upholstery, which he extinguished. Postincident examination revealed that the aluminum housing of a resistor (inverter) in the cabin door seal pressurization pump (an STC modification) had melted and deformed. Further investigation revealed that the pump unit had not been installed properly due to lack of adequate written instructions. Additionally, the design of the unit did not include a pilot controlled on-off switch, adequate space for cooling during operation, sufficient procedural directions for when the amber caution light comes on, and there was no way to monitor the pumps operating time limitation (10 minutes). It was also determined that the wrong amperage fuse had been installed in the pump system.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.