FTW90DRA10 · Lockheed PV-2
Confederate Air Force Lockheed PV-2 · Accident: airframe, component or system failure while taxiing
From an unrecorded airport to Lafayette Regional Airport (LFT)
Event
- NTSB case
- FTW90DRA10
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
- Completed
- API-reported fatalities
- 0 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- 0
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- General aviation
- WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
- Visual Meteorological Cond
Lockheed PV-2
- Aircraft type
- Lockheed PV-2
- Category
- Airplane
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N7428C
- Operator
- Confederate Air Force
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From not recordedTo Lafayette Regional Airport (LFT), Lafayette, LA
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- Taxi · to runway
- First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- Airframe, component or system failure
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Destroyed
Cause areas
- Electrical system › Overload
- Engine accessories, engine starter › Other
Approximate · Estimated position: the centre of Conroe, TX, the place the record names. Not the accident site.
NTSB narrative
DURING TAXI TO TAKEOFF THE CREW SENSED AN ODOR SIMILAR TO AN ELECTRICAL FIRE, AND SMOKE BECAME APPARENT IN THE COCKPIT. BOTH GENERATORS AND THE BATTERY MASTER WERE SECURED. THE RIGHT GENERATOR WOULD NOT ACCEPT A LOAD AND SMOKE WAS COMING FROM THE RIGHT WING ACCESSORY J-BOX IN THE RIGHT WHEEL WELL. THREE OCCUPANTS DEPLANED AND INITIALLY EXTINGUISHED THE FIRE, WHICH REIGNITED DUE TO HOT METAL AND COMPROMISED FUEL/OIL LINES. ALL SYSTEMS WERE SECURED AND THE PILOT THEN EVACUATED THE AIRPLANE, WHICH WAS CONSUMED BY THE FIRE. THE PILOT ESTIMATED THAT FIRE FIGHTING EQUIPMENT DID NOT ARRIVE FOR 20-25 MINUTES AFTER THE FIRE BEGAN. FAA INSPECTORS WERE UNABLE TO DETERMINE THE FIRE SOURCE FROM THE BURNED WRECKAGE. HOWEVER, THE OPERATOR'S REPORT STATED THAT THE RIGHT STARTER SOLENOID DID NOT OPEN AFTER ENGINE START CAUSING THE STARTER TO REMAIN LINKED TO THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM. THIS RESULTED IN A SYSTEM OVERLOAD AND SUBSEQUENT ELECTRICAL FIRE. BOTH FUEL AND OIL LINES WERE ROUTED THROUGH THE RIGHT WHEEL WELL FOR COCKPIT INDICATIONS.
Probable cause
THE ENGINE STARTER REMAINED ENGAGED AFTER ENGINE START AND THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM OVERHEAT.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record FTW90DRA10
- Event ID
- 20001212X24264
- Case number
- FTW90DRA10
- Dataset
- historical-pre2008
- Source SHA-256
- 89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
- Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
- Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
- The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
- API snapshot SHA-256: f02ea7759e7a69f9a4eddb79a56a4a51489c88373cf83fe195862519960b6e4f; retrieved 2026-09-23T05:18:43.259Z.