Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
University Park Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
State College, Pennsylvania 16801
Thursday, March 25, 1999 15:45 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
When the airplane's left main gear actuator was removed for overhaul, a temporary replacement, provided by the airplane manufacturer, was installed. While taxing after landing, the airplane's left main landing gear collapsed. Disassembly of the actuator revealed the lock ring was installed upside-down. A radiograph view of taken of the lock piston and the ball bearing which operated the lock switch revealed the ball bearing was resting only 1/2 up the ramp on the lock piston; however, the downlock switch was found to indicate locked. Review of the actuator's maintenance records revealed it was repaired by the Cessna Wichita Citation Service Center, Wichita, Kansas, on February 7, 1999. During the repair, the actuator was dissembled and reassembled.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Improper assembly of the left main landing gear (LMLG) actuator by the airplane manufacturer, which resulted in an incorrect 'locked' indication on the LMLG switch, and the subsequent collapse of the LMLG during taxi.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 3/25/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1545 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | STATE COLLEGE |
| Event State | PENNSYLVANIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 16801 |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | UNIVERSITY PARK |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | UNV |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 1239 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1559 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | UNV |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1239 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 20 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 6 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 320 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 5007 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 26 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1543 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 13 2001 2:01PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N37MH |
| NTSB Number | NYC99IA079 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Minor |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 550 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 550 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 550-0153 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 13500 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 9 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 1 1999 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 19 |
| Airframe Hours | 6380 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CHARLIE BROWN AIR CORP |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 303 SCIENCE PARK ROAD |
| Aircraft Owner City | STATE COLLEGE |
| Aircraft Owner State | PA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 16803 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | AGC |
| Departure City | PITTSBURGH |
| Departure State | PA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1520 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | UNV |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Taxi |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |