Richard Young HARMON ROCKET II N288M

Summary

On 31 December 1998 at about 19:51 local time, a Richard Young HARMON ROCKET II registered N288M was involved in an accident near Esparto, California, United States. 2 people were on board and one was seriously injured, one had minor injuries. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

31 December 1998 at 19:51

Classification

Accident

Location

Esparto, California, United States

Nearest airport

Ala Doble (PVT)

Coordinates

38.7295, -122.0295

Aircraft

Richard Young HARMON ROCKET II

Registration

N288M

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX99LA063

1 person was seriously injured.

The owner's inadequate condition (annual) inspection, which failed to detect a loose fuel pump output line attachment fitting, which resulted in an in-flight fire. A factor in the hard landing and ground loop was the pilot's inability to see through the smoke filling the cockpit.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

Ground witnesses heard the engine make a 'pop' sound on downwind and observed flames coming from the rear cowl area. The passenger reported that he observed light haze of smoke in the cockpit on base leg, then flames and dark black smoke filled the cabin as the airplane turned onto final. The pilot landed hard and the airplane ground looped to a stop. The pilot had difficulty opening the canopy and sustained serious burns. The engine and components of the accessory section at the rear of the engine exhibited thermal damage in the left rear of the accessory section. The engine driven fuel pump displayed more damage than the other accessories. The aluminum housing of the engine driven fuel pump was melted and the center section of the pump had disintegrated. The top half of the pump remained securely attached to the engine. The bottom of the pump fell into the rubble. Molten metal remained on the lower portion of the pump piece that remained attached to the engine. The attachment fittings for the inlet and output fuel lines for the fuel pump were detached and lying in the engine compartment. The inlet line had globules of molten metal on the threads and around the fitting. The output fitting did not have any residue on it; the threads and fitting were clean and undamaged. The 'B' nut on the output fitting was 1 1/4 turns loose. The remaining fuel line 'B' nuts were secure. The fitting was an industrial hardware fitting rather than an aviation fitting, and did not show any evidence of fracture. After removal of the fire sleeve from the flexible fuel lines, no damage or chaffing of the braided material was evident. There was no evidence of any ruptures or other hose failures within the engine compartment. A condition (annual) inspection was completed 1 month 10 hours prior to the accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.