Pilot Debrief

Morrison E-Racer near Aurora, IL — 2008-06-21

Final reportCHI08LA169
Sign in to save
Date
2008-06-21
Location
Aurora, IL, USA
Airport
ARR
Aircraft
Morrison E-Racer
Registration
N345JM
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
None
Fatalities
0

Probable cause

An undetermined failure in the high-pressure fuel system, and the subsequent loss of engine power and in-flight fire. Contributing to the accident were the pilot's restricted visibility due to the smoke in the cockpit, failure of the aileron control during landing flare, and the collapse of the left main landing gear due to the hard landing.

NTSB narrative

The pilot experienced a complete loss of engine power during initial climb after takeoff. The airplane was about 1 mile from the airport at 2,000 feet mean sea level at the time. The pilot elected to return to the airport for landing and notified the air traffic control tower accordingly. The cockpit began to fill with smoke, and shortly afterward the pilot reported noticing a fire in the cockpit near the firewall. The pilot successfully continued an approach to the departure runway, intermittently losing visual contact with the runway due to the smoke in the cockpit. On short final, he applied full left aileron and rudder inputs in an attempt to align the airplane for landing; however, the aileron control failed at that time. The airplane landed hard and the left main landing gear collapsed. The airplane spun around and came to rest about 1,500 feet from the runway threshold. The pilot successfully evacuated the airplane, which was subsequently consumed by the fire. The post accident examination was unable to locate the exact source of the fire. The pilot commented that the extent and rapid progression of the fire was consistent with a failure in the high-pressure fuel system.

NTSB coding

View NTSB final report

Related mishaps