Grab some Hot Dogs!
Posted by Kevin.....
A small scare for me in Dubuque, IA yesterday. When I hit the start button on the left engine I was not surprised to see a little flame coming out of the exhaust pipe.
This is caused by too much fuel going into an engine. Normally, once the engine starts the fire goes out. However, too much extra fuel was actually preventing the engine from starting.
As the engine cranked, more fuel trickled out of the tail pipe. The flames grew larger, and started coming up over the sides of the engine. I was kicking myself now. I needed to get this engine started to put out the fire, but the more I tried to start it the more fire comes out of the exhaust pipe!
It wasn't going to start and I stopped cranking. The fire underneath my left engine continued to burn. Two ground crew guys came running over with fire extinguishers yelling, "GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT!"
I shut off the fuel selector and the master switches. I opened the cockpit escape door (which is on the LEFT SIDE!) and stepped onto the wing. There was no need to panic.
Smoke was rising from under my feet, and I jumped down onto the ground next to the engine.
I stopped and opened the engine access doors and looked in. There was no fire in the engine compartment.
"STEP BACK!" yelled one of the ground crew. I looked down and small flames were next to my stomach.
I had taken three steps backwards to look under the engine when the whole world exploded into a white cloud!
It was a fire extinguisher! Dry chemical shot across the underside of the wing onto the tail pipe and all over the side of the plane. I ducked to avoid getting a face full of fire retardant. My black jacket was covered with white powder.
The crash truck pulled up and parked in an upwind position, but the fire was out.
"This seems like a bit of an over reaction!" I said. But I thanked everyone, and had a mechanic inspect the engine compartment while we joked about it.
He confirmed that the engine compartment was undamaged. The fire had been minor and left soot in about a two foot circle around the exhaust pipe. The paint did not even burn.
After a few checks and an engine run, we cowled the engine up and I took off.
Let's review: The checklist tells the pilot that if the engines are still hot from a previous flight, boost the fuel pressure with the electric fuel boost pumps and the mixtures closed, then hit the starter.
I never do this.......except this time I did.
The result was too much fuel in the engine and it just trickled down the hot exhaust pipe where it caught fire. Why is this in our checklist?
A small scare for me in Dubuque, IA yesterday. When I hit the start button on the left engine I was not surprised to see a little flame coming out of the exhaust pipe.
This is caused by too much fuel going into an engine. Normally, once the engine starts the fire goes out. However, too much extra fuel was actually preventing the engine from starting.
As the engine cranked, more fuel trickled out of the tail pipe. The flames grew larger, and started coming up over the sides of the engine. I was kicking myself now. I needed to get this engine started to put out the fire, but the more I tried to start it the more fire comes out of the exhaust pipe!
It wasn't going to start and I stopped cranking. The fire underneath my left engine continued to burn. Two ground crew guys came running over with fire extinguishers yelling, "GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT!"
I shut off the fuel selector and the master switches. I opened the cockpit escape door (which is on the LEFT SIDE!) and stepped onto the wing. There was no need to panic.
Smoke was rising from under my feet, and I jumped down onto the ground next to the engine.
I stopped and opened the engine access doors and looked in. There was no fire in the engine compartment.
"STEP BACK!" yelled one of the ground crew. I looked down and small flames were next to my stomach.
I had taken three steps backwards to look under the engine when the whole world exploded into a white cloud!
It was a fire extinguisher! Dry chemical shot across the underside of the wing onto the tail pipe and all over the side of the plane. I ducked to avoid getting a face full of fire retardant. My black jacket was covered with white powder.
The crash truck pulled up and parked in an upwind position, but the fire was out.
"This seems like a bit of an over reaction!" I said. But I thanked everyone, and had a mechanic inspect the engine compartment while we joked about it.
He confirmed that the engine compartment was undamaged. The fire had been minor and left soot in about a two foot circle around the exhaust pipe. The paint did not even burn.
After a few checks and an engine run, we cowled the engine up and I took off.
Let's review: The checklist tells the pilot that if the engines are still hot from a previous flight, boost the fuel pressure with the electric fuel boost pumps and the mixtures closed, then hit the starter.
I never do this.......except this time I did.
The result was too much fuel in the engine and it just trickled down the hot exhaust pipe where it caught fire. Why is this in our checklist?
posted by Kevin and Stace @ 9:17 AM
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