DC-3/Dakota/Skytrain
Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Commercial; Flight Crew Flight Instructor; Flight Crew Multiengine
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 30; Flight Crew Total 5000; Flight Crew Type 60
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical; Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor
Aircraft Aircraft Damaged; General Declared Emergency
Aircraft
After landing I experienced an engine fire on the right engine as I was attempting to taxi off the runway. First indication was the engine started to die. After applying power to the engine I was unable to taxi off. At the same time I was alerted to an engine fire on the right engine (both the alarm and my partner in the airplane which was one of the passengers). I advanced the power in order to blow it out (I heard the engine back fire as I advanced and it seemed to be out the carburetor). I was told by my copilot the fire looked out. I reduced power and the fire came back much stronger. I again advanced power and called for the cowl flaps to be closed and the fire extinguisher pulled. Had the 3 passengers in the back evacuate; and had my copilot evacuate. I shut down the left engine and turned off the fuel to the right engine. I followed the check list except I could not turn the tail into the wind due to the strong crosswind from the left (even before shutting off the left engine). When I had my partner in the airplane (one of the passengers) and my copilot ready to hit it with the fire extinguishers I shut down the right engine and evacuated the aircraft.The fire was put out and no one was injured. My copilot and I did everything in our power to minimize the issue. ATC was very helpful in the incident. They asked about the same time the fire looked like it had gone out if I needed fire equipment. I initially said negative but the fire came back at the same time and I asked for trucks and equipment. After a brief conversation (I was kinda busy) they called for the fire equipment. We will know soon what caused the fire. It appears to have started in the power section of the aircraft due to the cowling damage.My copilot and I worked together well in this event. He was good at describing the issue since I could not see it. When I couldn't use him anymore and it looked like it would be unnecessary hazard to him to stay on board I had him evacuate.
[After landing; the Captain] made the comment; 'My right engine is dying.' I immediately looked out my window and noticed the prop still moving at what I perceived as a normal speed for that phase of flight. I responded with 'It looks good out here.' I then looked down and noticed he had the right throttle in a high setting; and verified that with looking at the manifold gauge. He mentioned that the right engine had died; but he was able to 'catch' it by adding in more throttle. We continued on the rollout and began to slow to taxi speed to exit the runway at the end. As we began to come to a slow speed to make the turn off; I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. I mentioned to the Captain; 'Our right engine is on fire' He responded with 'What?' Again I said; 'Our right engine is on fire; man' At this point; the owner of the airplane; who was also acting as the flight attendant for the two passengers; come into the cockpit and yelled; 'FIRE FIRE FIRE.'This confirmed; my initial comment about the right engine being on fire. The captain; then commanded that I close the cowl flaps and he brought up the power in an attempt to 'blow out the fire.' At this point; tower came over the radio and asked if we were in need of any assistance. I responded with 'Standby; we will let you know.' Tower mentioned; 'It looks like you are on fire; do you want me to roll the trucks?' I responded back with; 'Standby we will let you know.'After a few seconds of attempting to blow out the fire; the Captain asked; 'Does it look like it is out?' I responded with; 'Yes man; it looks like we are good.' So the Captain reduced to power so we could proceed with exiting the runway. Once the power was reduced; I noticed some orange glow from under the right cowling and noticed that the fire had come back even stronger than it was before. It appeared as if it was burning through the cowling. I immediately opened the fire extinguisher panel and selected the right engine. I said to the Captain; 'I have the bottle ready to fire.'The Captain asked; what is it doing now; this due to the fact that from the left seat he couldn't look across and see the right engine. I told him; 'It looks really bad; we need to blow the bottle.' At this point; I noticed the fire burning through the cowling with flames coming up towards myself and back towards the oil/fuel section. At this point; the Captain commanded the bottle be blown; so I discharged it. The fire seemed to be put out; minus some fire still at the bottle of the engine. The Captain asked what the effect was and I stated what I had saw. At this point; tower called us and said; 'It appears your engine is on fire; I am going to roll the trucks.' We responded with 'Yes please roll the trucks.'The Captain then made the call to evacuate the aircraft; I looked back into the cabin to repeat the call to evacuate and the flight attendant and passengers had already left. The Captain then began to continue with the Engine Fire checklist and complete all the steps of the checklist. During this time; he also shut down the left engine in accordance with the Normal Engine Shutdown checklist. He also shut off all the fuel lines; battery power and everything else to the airplane. As I exited the aircraft; I noticed that both of our passengers were safely on the side of the runway; and the flight attendant was in front of the aircraft with multiple fire extinguishers. I ran over to him and grabbed another extinguisher he had and began to fight the fire on the right engine alongside of him. We discharged two extinguishers and got the fire out. A few minutes later; the fire department showed up with an engine and an ambulance. They came over with an infrared gun and confirmed the fire was out and there was no hot spots remaining. Also throughout this event the police had a helicopter overhead and a car on the runway to assist us. Once the fire was out; the Captain and myself went back into the airplane and confirmed that the airplane was completely secure and there was no further threat to anyone around the aircraft. Sitting back a few days removed from the situation; I have replayed the situation in my mind many times. I feel as if the whole crew made great and timely decisions. I feel like our checklist discipline; excellent CRM and ability to quickly but safely make decisions prevented any further damage to the aircraft and allowed everyone to walk away from this incident. The support agencies (Fire; Police and ATC) did an outstanding job as well and helped back us up and allowed us to safely resolve this incident.
DC-3 flight crew reported they had an engine fire during landing roll out. The fought the fire and evacuated the aircraft on the taxiway.