Plane Couldn't Make Airport In Engine Fire Emergency

A student pilot flying with his instructor declared an emergency when they discovered fire in the engine compartment, but fell two miles short of a Danville, AR airport late Saturday night.

The Piper PA-32 Saratoga-type aircraft had just been purchased by student pilot, Justin Whitefield, less than a week before. He and his instructor, Brandon Wayne Hughes, along with a colleague, Jenny Parton, were returning from Louisville, KY where they had attended the Breeder's Cup World Championships.

The plane had departed Little Rock, AR on its last leg to Oklahoma City when they declared an emergency.

Whitefield was the executive director of the Oklahoma Youth Expo and a lobbyist for the Oklahoma Quarter Horse Racing Association.

The NTSB is investigating.

(Editor's Note -- The FAA Preliminary Report, listed below, describes the aircraft as a Cessna 182. A check of the FAA's N-Number registry shows the N number assigned to a PA-32, registered to an Oklahoma owner.)

IDENTIFICATION
  Regis#: 15852        Make/Model: C182      Description: 182, Skylane
  Date: 11/05/2006     Time: 

  Event Type: Accident   Highest Injury: Fatal     Mid Air: N    Missing: N
  Damage: Unknown

LOCATION
  City: DANVILLE   State: AR   Country: US

DESCRIPTION
  PILOT REPORTED ROUGH RUNNING ENGINE, THEN EXCLAIMED "MAYDAY, ON FIRE GOING
  DOWN.", DANVILLE, AR

INJURY DATA      Total Fatal:   3
                 # Crew:   1     Fat:   1     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   
                 # Pass:   2     Fat:   2     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   
                 # Grnd:         Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   

OTHER DATA
  Activity: Unknown      Phase: Unknown      Operation: OTHER

  Departed: LIT                         Dep Date:    Dep. Time:     
  Destination: PWA                      Flt Plan: IFR          Wx Briefing: 
  Last Radio Cont: 
  Last Clearance: 

  FAA FSDO: LITTLE ROCK, AR  (SW11)               Entry date: 11/06/2006

FMI: www.ntsb.gov