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A C185 pilot noticed open flame under the dash; turned off electrical and fuel; and landed on a county road.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 867923 |
| Time | |
| Date | 200912 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Skywagon 185 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
| Flight Phase | Cruise |
| Route In Use | Direct |
| Flight Plan | None |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | Electrical Wiring & Connectors |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Pilot Flying Single Pilot |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Commercial Flight Crew Instrument |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 100 Flight Crew Total 680 Flight Crew Type 680 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor |
Narrative:
After announcing on CTAF that I was 9 miles south of airport and inbound; I smelled something burning. I started to shut some non-important items off like lights; when I started to see smoke come up from under the dash. As I turned off the master switch; I could see a small flame from near my left foot. I turned the fuel switch to the off position and searched for a landing area. The flame went out almost immediately. I noticed a paved county road below me and I landed into the small amount of wind that was present that day. A mechanic came to the scene and found one power wire had fallen from the wiring harness somehow and landed on a small fuel pressure hose (metal) and created an arc. Some wires burned and a pitot-static tube was damaged; since the airspeed indicator went dead sometime after I took off from the road and returned to the airport. Due to training; I knew to immediately shut off fuel for a fire; shut down electricity and find a place to land. This plane has a 28 volt electric system; so no circuits tripped.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: A C185 pilot noticed open flame under the dash; turned off electrical and fuel; and landed on a county road.
Narrative: After announcing on CTAF that I was 9 miles south of airport and inbound; I smelled something burning. I started to shut some non-important items off like lights; when I started to see smoke come up from under the dash. As I turned off the master switch; I could see a small flame from near my left foot. I turned the fuel switch to the off position and searched for a landing area. The flame went out almost immediately. I noticed a paved county road below me and I landed into the small amount of wind that was present that day. A Mechanic came to the scene and found one power wire had fallen from the wiring harness somehow and landed on a small fuel pressure hose (metal) and created an arc. Some wires burned and a pitot-static tube was damaged; since the airspeed indicator went dead sometime after I took off from the road and returned to the airport. Due to training; I knew to immediately shut off fuel for a fire; shut down electricity and find a place to land. This plane has a 28 volt electric system; so no circuits tripped.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.