Chippewa Valley Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Eau Claire, Wisconsin 54703
Friday, March 29, 1996 17:33 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot reported that an 'unsafe gear door light' was displayed 'shortly after departing.' He recycled the landing gear. The right main landing gear did not extend. He performed several normal and emergency gear extension attempts with no success. He had several telephone patch conversations with the airplane manufacturer and flight safety. The right main landing gear could not be lowered. He orbited to burn down fuel, declared an emergency, and conducted a gear up landing. Examination of the right main landing gear revealed a fatigue fracture in the right inboard landing gear door forward hinge bracket. The door was wedged in the wheel well.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

fatigue fracture and subsequent failure of the gear door hinge bracket.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 3/29/1996
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1733
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City EAU CLAIRE
Event State WISCONSIN
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 54703
Event Date Year 1996
Event Date Month 3
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport CHIPPEWA VALLEY REGIONAL
Event Location Nearest Airport ID EAU
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 907
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Pilot
Time of the weather observation 0
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID
Elevation of weather observation facility 0
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 20000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Unknown
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 10
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 60
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 8
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
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) 989
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Apr 8 1996 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 812
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2000 9:53AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N292RG
NTSB Number CHI96LA127
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Socata
Aircraft Model TBM-700
Aircraft Series Identifier TBM-700
Aircraft Serial Number 14
Certified Max Gross Weight 6614
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 6
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Mar 29 1996 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 3
Airframe Hours 720
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name CHEMRITE INDUSTRIES, INC
Aircraft Owner Street Address 19725 EDGEWOOD DRIVE
Aircraft Owner City LANNON
Aircraft Owner State WI
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 53046
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) Business
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code RIE
Departure City RICE LAKE
Departure State WI
Departure Country
Departure Time 1400
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code MWC
Destination City MILWAUKEE
Destination State WI
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Climb
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 4
Runway Length 7311
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --