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SEA90IA161

1990-08-12 · BELGRADE, Montana, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport BZN

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE MALFUNCTION OF THE STARTER CONTROL VALVE.

Factual narrative

AT THE BEGINNING OF A FLIGHT, JUST AFTER TAKEOFF, THE FIRE WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED FOR THE NUMBER 3 ENGINE. THE FLIGHT CREW PERFORMED THE APPROPRIATE EMERGENCY PROCEDURES AND RETURNED FOR LANDING. AFTER LANDING, FIRE CREWS EXTINGUISHED THE STILL BURNING FIRE THAT WAS CONFINED TO THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT. INSPECTION OF THE ENGINE REVEALED THAT THE STARTER EXPERIENCED AN INFLIGHT FAILURE. THE STARTER CONTROL VALVE WAS EXAMINED AND FOUND TO OPERATE NORMALLY AT THE TIME OF THE INSPECTION. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1990_SEA90IA161.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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