Scanned from Wings of Fame, Vol 12, page 60. At Sacramento ALC after an engine fire.
4 Aug 2003 from Jim Day, retired Convair Tech Rep: The fire happened at ACY NJANG on the trim pad. An afterburner fuel pump crossover tube had a nut missing and fuel was sprayed into the engine bay. When the A/B was light the right side exploded and erupted into a big fire. Had extensive damage to right engine bay and several belt frames. We had to use aircraft jacks under the engine removal rails to roll the engine out. Sweat a few bullets before the engine was safely on the stand. The engine run crew and fire department did some great work saving the aircraft from complete destruction.
6 Aug 2003 more from Jim Day: The accident happened in the late spring to early summer of 1973. The aircraft was being run to complete a TCTO testing the engine fuel pump emergency side for pressure output. I (Jim Day, retired Convair Rep) think it was an urgent action TCTO. A nut had been removed from the A/B fuel crossover tube to install a pressure gauge. For some reason the nut was left off during the engine run. A couple of A/B lights /runs had been accomplished without any problem For some reason one more A/B light was requested by the engine troop. At this point the right side of the aircraft was enveloped in fire and smoke. A quick radio call by the operator got the fire department on the way before the fuel was turned off and the engine shut down. The crew chief Ron Risley did a great job. The fuel leak sprayed a pattern in the engine bay just like a blow torch. The A/B light caused the flame because of all the fuel exiting around the tail cone. There was damage to two belt frames, formers and skin. As I said earlier there wasn't any support for the engine removal rails in the aft right side of the fuselage so we used a couple of tripod aircraft jacks with a homemade adapter attached to the jacks to support the rails. I was on the trim pad with the crew when this took place... Jim Day
6 Aug 2003 Dave Kuntz (177th ANG NJ) contacted the now retired crew chief (TSGT Ron Risley) who was running the aircraft when the fire occurred in the late summer or early fall of 1973. TSGT Risley was credited with staying with the aircraft after the fire was discovered and shutting down the plane to minimize a bad situation.
4 Aug 20014 from Joe Camardo I believe this AC was damaged during a Trim Pad test at the 177 FIG NJANG in the 70's. From what I gather, the crew chief managed to shut her down before loosing the entire AC. The accident was caused by a fuel pump failure????? The AC was cut in half and the completed AC was actually two AC joined together!! Much later, (1983) I managed to catch a ride in her from Atlantic City to Tyndall.
Information
Rating score
3.90 (1 rate)
Rate this photo
Visits
2564
Dimensions
1200*801
File
9668.jpg
Filesize
472 KB