Piper PA 22 N5823Z accident near Gallatin, Tennessee

Probable cause

The pilot's inadequate preflight inspection, which resulted in an inflight fire due to the presence of a bird nest in the engine compartment.

NTSB analysis

During preflight inspection of the airplane, the pilot discovered three baby birds in the cockpit. After removing the birds, he continued his preflight inspection, looking for a nest. He noticed that the rag normally used to cover one of the elevator openings was missing, but he did not find a nest inside. Immediately after takeoff, about 100 ft above ground level, a fire started within the engine compartment, and smoke began to enter the cockpit. The pilot turned the airplane back toward the runway, but lost control as the airplane touched down because his visibility was limited by the smoke. The occupants egressed the airplane, which was subsequently consumed by fire. Postaccident examination of the wreckage revealed remnants of a bird nest between the exhaust manifold and the engine firewall, which was the likely origin of the fire.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for ERA16LA183 for the full record.