Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Jackson Hole Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Jackson, Wyoming 83001
Tuesady, July 2, 1996 7:30 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During a normal landing, the aircraft's nose gear collapsed. The pilots stated that three green indicator lights were observed during the final landing checklist. In postaccident troubleshooting, an instrument panel mounting screw which was too long was discovered. This screw was obstructing the movement of the landing gear selector handle to a full down position, allowing it to return prematurely to neutral (which removes hydraulic pressure from the gear system.) The nose gear was thus not hydraulically moved over center and was unlocked, even though the nose gear indicated down and locked in this configuration. Per the aircraft service manual, the nose gear linkage incorporates a downlock spring, and both gear linkage overcenter travel and gear down limit switch position are adjustable. It was not determined whether, or when, these items were checked or adjusted before the accident. After the proper screw was installed in the instrument panel, the gear operated properly in retraction tests.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
An improper screw installation by an unknown individual into the instrument panel, which restricted movement of the gear handle resulting in premature disengagement of the normal landing gear extension system. A factor was one or more improperly adjusted nose gear system components, which resulted in an unlocked nose gear that falsely indicated down and locked.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/2/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 730 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | JACKSON |
| Event State | WYOMING |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 83001 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | JACKSON HOLE |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | JAC |
| 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 | 6445 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 714 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | JAC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 6445 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| 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) | 8 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 6662 |
| 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) | 1655 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 2 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 816 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 10:13AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N27518 |
| NTSB Number | SEA96LA140 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-31 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-31 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 31-7812038 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 6536 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 4 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 94 |
| Airframe Hours | 7726 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | SATELLITE AERO INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 3466 |
| Aircraft Owner City | JACKSON |
| Aircraft Owner State | WY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 83001 |
| 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 | YSTA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| 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 | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Cargo |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | SLC |
| Departure City | SALT LAKE CITY |
| Departure State | UT |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 630 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | JAC |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| 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 | 36 |
| Runway Length | 6299 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |