The US National Transportation Safety Board is investigating a bizarre incident out in Chandler, Arizona, on 25 August...
A private pilot prepping for a cross-country flight from Chandler AZ to Tucson AZ had the misfortune of looking up and seeing smoke then fire coming from the left side of the Cessna 177B Cardinal's cowling after he tried repeatedly to start the engine.
Says the preliminary report,"The pilot revealed that while he was waiting to proceed with another start attempt, he observed smoke coming out of the left side of the engine cowling followed by the presence of a fire. The pilot subsequently exited through the left cabin door, after which the fire consumed the airplane."
That's when things got weird, if you believe what you read...
An airport operations supervisor tried, unsuccessfully, to help out by shooting two fire extinguishers into the fire after the pilot bolted,
He reported to the NTSB investigator-in-charge (IIC) that "approximately 1-2 minutes" after he backed away from the airplane "the aircraft engine starter engaged and the engine began to run at a fairly high RPM, well above idle power." The aircraft apparently didn't move, and it wasn't chocked.
He says the engine ran for 2-3 minutes "until the fire burned through the left wing, at which point the engine stopped."
The final report, with probable cause, should be interesting...
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