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Assigned to perform an engine test fight for which they were not trained; the flight crew of an SW4 experienced an engine fire while ad libbing procedures they felt might be appropriate for such an assignment.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 890456 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201005 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1801-2400 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Dusk |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Metro Undifferentiated or Other Model |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
| Flight Phase | Parked |
| Route In Use | None |
| Flight Plan | None |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | Turbine Engine |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | First Officer |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Commercial |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 200 Flight Crew Total 1800 Flight Crew Type 1350 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor |
Narrative:
We were instructed to accomplish a test flight on the aircraft because; according to the director of maintenance; 'the prop has been off for a week.' our company has no written procedure for--nor are any of the pilots instructed on how to do--a test flight.we taxied to the run-up area at the end of the runway and began engine checks. The captain pulled the engine stop lever to the first detent; mistakenly thinking that it would test if the prop would feather. The engine spooled down; and below 10% RPM; the captain pushed the start button to engage the auto restart. The cirrus parked next to us reported black smoke coming from our left engine over the tower frequency. Shortly after; the tower called us to report flames coming from our engine. I looked back; and could see fire coming from the back of the engine. I confirmed the report to the captain; and he accomplished the memory items for engine fire on ground. I visually inspected the engine and found the fire to be out. We taxied back to our hangar under escort of airport operations.our maintenance staff informed us that when the captain had pulled the stop lever the excess fuel in the burner can was not purged like in a normal shutdown. Pushing the start button to auto restart ignited the excess fuel and shot flames out the back of the engine. No damage resulted to the aircraft.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: Assigned to perform an engine test fight for which they were not trained; the flight crew of an SW4 experienced an engine fire while ad libbing procedures they felt might be appropriate for such an assignment.
Narrative: We were instructed to accomplish a test flight on the aircraft because; according to the director of maintenance; 'the prop has been off for a week.' Our company has no written procedure for--nor are any of the pilots instructed on how to do--a test flight.We taxied to the run-up area at the end of the runway and began engine checks. The Captain pulled the engine stop lever to the first detent; mistakenly thinking that it would test if the prop would feather. The engine spooled down; and below 10% RPM; the Captain pushed the start button to engage the auto restart. The Cirrus parked next to us reported black smoke coming from our left engine over the Tower frequency. Shortly after; the Tower called us to report flames coming from our engine. I looked back; and could see fire coming from the back of the engine. I confirmed the report to the Captain; and he accomplished the memory items for engine fire on ground. I visually inspected the engine and found the fire to be out. We taxied back to our hangar under escort of airport operations.Our maintenance staff informed us that when the Captain had pulled the stop lever the excess fuel in the burner can was not purged like in a normal shutdown. Pushing the start button to auto restart ignited the excess fuel and shot flames out the back of the engine. No damage resulted to the aircraft.
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.