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ATL82FA229

1982-08-05 · RALEIGH, North Carolina, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport RDU

N4076W has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (NEW KOLB AIRCRAFT MK III, built 2007), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Factual narrative

SHORTLY AFTER TAKEOFF THE ACFT CAUGHT FIRE. THE PLT ATTEMPTED TO TURN BACK TO THE ARPT BUT THE ENG LOST POWER & THE ACFTCOULD NOT MAINTAIN ALTITUDE. THE ACFT CRASHED INTO A HEAVILY WOODED STATE PARK. THE #5 CYLINDER EXHAUST PIPE WAS FOUND SEPARATED & WAS NOT BURNED OR SOOTED. EXTENSIVE MELTING WAS EVIDENT AROUND THE INTAKE & EXHAUST PORTS ON THE #5 CYLINDER. THE HEAD OF THE #5 CYLINDER WAS COMPLETELY BURNED THROUGH. THE ACFT HAD COMPLETED AN ANNUAL INSPECTION 30 HRS PRIOR TO THE ACCIDENT & RECORDS REVEALED THAT THE EXHAUST SYSTEM GASKETS HAD BEEN REPLACED. METALLURGICAL EXAMINATION WITH A SCANNING ELECTRONIC MICROSCOPE SHOWED NO EVIDENCE OF NUT-TIGHTENING MARKS ON THE FAILED EXHAUST PIPE FLANGE WHILE DISTINCT NUT-TIGHTENING MARKS WERE OBSERVED ON TWO EXHAUST PIPES THAT REMAINED ATTACHED. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1982_ATL82FA229.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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