Primary finding
Probable cause
improper installation of an auto battery cable which led to an in-flight fire due to the chaffed cable.
Investigator assessment
Analysis narrative
The pilot reported that about 50 feet above the ground after takeoff he began to smell smoke and then saw smoke in the cockpit. He elected to abort the takeoff and land on the runway. He said the airplane bounced once and then landed. After touchdown he steered straight with both brakes full on. When it became apparent that he could not stop before the trees at the end of the runway, he began a hard turn to right. The left main landing gear failed, the left wing hit the ground and the aircraft came to a stop. Examination of the wreckage revealed that a chafed auto battery cable, aft of the firewall, caused the soundproofing on the firewall to catch fire.
Source record
Factual narrative
On November 9, 1997, about 1415 eastern standard time, a Cessna 182A, N5883B, registered to a private owner, operating as a Title 14 CFR Part 91, local parachute jump flight, aborted the takeoff and ground looped at Southern Comfort Airport, Parkton, North Carolina. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The airplane was substantially damaged. The airline transport pilot and four passengers were not injured. The flight was originating at the time. The pilot reported that the airplane had taken off, and had reached an altitude of about 50 feet above the ground when he "began to smell smoke, and then saw smoke in the cockpit." The pilot elected to abort the takeoff, and land on the runway. He said the airplane "bounced once and then landed." After touchdown he steered "straight with both brakes full on." When it "became apparent that I could not stop before the trees at the end of the runway, I began a hard turn to right...just as I began to straighten out, the left main landing gear failed...the left wing hit the ground and the aircraft came to a stop." Examination of the wreckage by the FAA revealed that a chafed auto battery cable, aft of the fire wall, caused the sound proofing on the fire wall to catch fire, resulting in smoke entering the cabin. -