Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Elko Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Elko, Nevada 89801
Monday, July 21, 1997 13:49 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Before departing from Reno the aircraft had been ramp-checked by the FAA with no discrepancies noted. The private pilot was responsible for landing, while the airline transport pilot was responsible for completing the before landing checklist, which included checking the position of the nose wheel steering tiller. Upon touchdown, the aircraft veered left of the centerline. The private pilot attempted to brake with right rudder input. The aircraft slowed down but continued to veer to the left. The propellers were put into beta, but the aircraft continued to veer off the left side of the runway, struck a light, and collapsed the nose gear. After repairs, the airline transport pilot ferried the aircraft to an airport in California, with no discrepancies noted. A report submitted by the owner of the aircraft indicates nose gear difficulties dating back to August 1992. The report further stated that if the actuator cables were improperly tensioned the tiller could visually be indicating a horizontal position without the nose wheel being centered. Witnesses reported that upon landing they saw a cloud of smoke emanating from the nose gear. Signature marks found at the initial point of touchdown on the runway are consistent with the nose gear not being in the centered position. The aircraft traveled approximately 200 to 300 feet and then was left of centerline. No discrepancies were noted with the aircraft's braking system. Examination of the nose gear steering cables did reveal that the cables were significantly under tensioned.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of maintenance personnel to correctly diagnose and correct a reoccurring nose gear steering problem, and the improperly tensioned nose wheel steering actuator cables which provided the pilot with an erroneous cockpit indication that the nose gear was centered when it was cocked.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/21/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1349 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | ELKO |
| Event State | NEVADA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 89801 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | ELKO |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | EKO |
| 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 | 5153 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1356 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | EKO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5153 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 700 |
| 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) | 30 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 31 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 5 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 50 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| 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) | 1185 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 21 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1430 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:25PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N776BF |
| NTSB Number | LAX97LA250 |
| 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 | de Havilland |
| Aircraft Model | DHC-6-300 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | DHC-6-300 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 672 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 12500 |
| 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 | 14 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 7 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 2 |
| Airframe Hours | 12152 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CONTINENTAL AVIATION SERVICES |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 200 PATRIOT WAY |
| Aircraft Owner City | NAPLES |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 34104 |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | RNO |
| Departure City | RENO |
| Departure State | NV |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1145 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | EKO |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| 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 | 5 |
| Runway Length | 7100 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |