Crispy Cirrus

That pic re-enforces to me my one deviation from nearly all GA checklists ... Seat Belts fastened before engine start.

In the Navy, we NEVER strapped in until all the engines where running and nothing that shouldn't be burning wasn't burning.
Sure, it only takes another partial second to unbuckle and climb out if you don't get the fire out during engine start, but why add one more step to that process? Besides, I see no reason to buckle the seatbelt prior to taxi. Maybe it's where it is in the checklist because people have gotten distracted trying to find and buckle the belts and let the plane roll while head down, but that same thing can happen during run-up ...
 
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Makes me wonder: is the risk of engine fire greater or lesser in a fuel injected engine vs. carburetor?
 
My thinking: the carb and fuel plumbing is under the engine in a carbureted setup. In FI, much of the fuel distribution is above the engine. Seems to me this would increase fire risk. Also, the fuel is under higher pressure to pop off the injectors...
 
This is why you don't go fly the plane with a fuel leak anywhere near the engine compartment.
 
The key is for most fires in small aircraft (which are not practically "fightable"), your **ONLY** option is to get the plane down on the ground before it is unflyable. This means on the nearest suitable piece of ground, not necessarily an airport.

I had a friend whose Navion caught fire in the air. They got out of the plane just before the fire engulfed the rest of the plane.

The picture here however looks like it was a induction fire (not uncomon on hot starts). In that case, close the fuel off and continue cranking.
 
Turns out one of the CAP airplanes based at KAPA was doing the runup. Here's the report I got in email:

During pre-takeoff Run-up, aircraft (Sirus CR-22) encountered a nose well flash fire. Mission Observer Grabbed fire extinguisher, leaving aircraft to render assistance. All passengers safely egressed their aircraft and MO and one other were able to initially extinguish the fire before emergency responders arrived. See mission files for additional info.

Two scary observations went along with today's event.
One: it is frightening to see how fast a composite skinned aircraft can burn. Today's fire was small and lasted less then 60 seconds, yet the entire cowling was destroyed - composite lava! It took the fire department about five minutes or better to arrive on scene!

Second was fire extinguishers. The occupants of our burning aircraft either had no fire extinguisher or did not know how to use it. Next time you fly, take a few minutes and brush up on how to get to our extinguishers, both in the hangar and in the aircraft.
What we learned today: Fire can happen without any warning, fire extinguishers are life savers and the knowledge of how to use them is critical!
 
Your report does not say how the fire started. Any fire in any engine compartment will affect the cowling of the plane, even aluminum ones.
 
citizen5000 said:
Your report does not say how the fire started. Any fire in any engine compartment will affect the cowling of the plane, even aluminum ones.
Click to expand...

Most aluminum planes have fiberglass cowls...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Can they make a leather wrapped fire extinguisher an option in the Cirrus? ;-)

I've got one in my boring old 182... just like the CAP folks who put the Cirrus fire out, apparently.
 
murphy's post summed it up nicely.

Only thing to add is the proximate cause was one of the fuel lines entering the spider had cracked inside the spider and allowed fuel to leak out on top of the engine.

Since the plane was being checked out for poor running and high fuel flow, too bad a visual check wasn't done sans cowling first. They might have spotted the leak before disaster struck.

Oh, well, 20/20 hindsight and all that. That's what we have insurance for!
 
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