N51372

On August 11, 1997, at 1415 eastern standard time, a Taylorcraft L2A, N51372, was destroyed by fire. The airline transport pilot was not injured. The pilot had initially departed the Shelbyville Municipal Airport, Shelbyville, Indiana, en route to Tara Field, North Carolina. The pilot returned immediately after takeoff, went into the operations building, and reported he had smelled fuel in the cockpit. After inspecting the airplane, the pilot departed a second time. Shortly after takeoff, the airplane returned to the airport. The pilot got out of the airplane after he had stopped it on the runway. A fire ignited and destroyed the airplane. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan had been filed.

The pilot reported that the aircraft had not received an annual maintenance inspection since November 15, 1994. The pilot was conducting a ferry flight of his aircraft back to North Carolina where an annual inspection was to be performed. After thoroughly inspecting the aircraft and receiving the appropriate ferry permit, he departed. Shortly after takeoff, he detected a fuel odor and returned to Shelbyville to inspect the airplane. After a thorough inspection, he could not find any fuel leaks.

The pilot reported that approximately five minutes after takeoff, he felt drops of fuel falling from an area near the right wing overhead fuel line. He reported fuel appeared to be leaking into the cockpit around the fabric patch surrounding the main fuel inlet line. The pilot returned to Shelbyville. The fuel leak worsened and the volume of fuel leaking into the cockpit increased. The pilot reported that during the base-to-final turn, a large quantity of fuel poured into the cockpit. The pilot made a short field landing and turned off the magnetos and shut off the fuel control handle during landing rollout. The pilot reported he exited the airplane and tried to push the airplane off the runway. As the pilot was pushing the airplane off the runway, the fuel ignited and the airplane was engulfed in flames within seconds.

An examination of the fuel system revealed that the right wing fuel tank had not ruptured, but a fuel line located at the forward inboard area was completely disconnected. The fuel line incorporated a flare type fitting and was not broken off, but appeared to have come unscrewed from its receptacle. The left fuel tank had ruptured, but the fuel fittings were intact. The fuel lines forward of the firewall were undamaged.