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CHI91IA041

1990-12-05 · DETROIT, Michigan, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport DTW

N715RC has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (CESSNA 182T, built 2002), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE INADEQUATE DEICING PROCEDURES INSTITUTED BY COMPANY MANAGEMENT.

Factual narrative

THE INCIDENT AIRPLANE EXPERIENCED AN APU FIRE SHORTLY AFTER LANDING WHEN THE APU WAS STARTED. THE AIRPLANE HAD BEEN DEICED AT ITS POINT OF DEPARTURE WITH A GLYCOL AND WATER MIX. COMPANY POLICY CALLED FOR THE FLIGHT CREW TO SHUT OFF THE APU DURING DEICING. THE APU EXHAUST OUTLET IS ON TOP OF THE RIGHT WING NEAR THE FUSELAGE, AND WILL ACCEPT DEICE FLUID INTO THE EXHAUST AND SUBSEQUENTLY THE APU COMBUSTION CHAMBER IF DEICING FLUID IS DIRECTED INTO THE OPENING. GLYCOL IS HIGHLY FLAMMABLE ONCE THE WATER IS VAPORIZED/EVAPORATED. THE APU START FOLLOWING THE LANDING AT DETROIT IGNITED THE RESIDUAL GLYCOL IN THE APU, CAUSING THE EXHAUST STACK FIRE. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1990_CHI91IA041.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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Related research

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