Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Falcon Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Mesa, Arizona 85201
Saturday, August 9, 1997 12:30 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
After a 3 hr training flight, the pilot put the gear selector down & obtained a green light indication. During main gear touchdown, the gear warning horn sounded, & the pilot performed a successful go-around. Subsequent attempts (using both the normal & emergency procedures to obtain a green down light for the landing gear) were unsuccessful. The right main landing gear collapsed during the final landing. Postaccident exam of the aircraft revealed that the right main gear upper side link had fractured, separating it from the lower side link. The associated push-pull tube for the upper side link was bent, and the attaching bolt was sheared. Metallurgical exam of the parts disclosed that all fractures & bends were the result of overload. This aircraft had sustained damage, while parked at another airport ramp. This occurred as a Boeing 727 was departing the ramp. Its jet blast lifted the Cessna off the ground, then it was abruptly deposited back on the ramp. Following the incident, the aircraft was ferried to a repair facility. Records of the repair showed that the gear work was limited to jacking the aircraft & inspecting the nose gear assembly, actuator and bellcrank, and nose structure. A gear retraction and extension check was also performed. The manufacturer stated that following the jet blast incident, the airplane should have undergone an extensive re-rigging of the gear to thoroughly inspect the system.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
inadequate maintenance inspection of the landing gear system, following a prior incident, due to the mechanic's failure to follow the service manual instructions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/9/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1230 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | MESA |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85201 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | FALCON FIELD |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | FFZ |
| 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 | 1392 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1235 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FFZ |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1392 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 20000 |
| 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) | 50 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 190 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| 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) | 1258 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 9 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1245 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:30PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8139M |
| NTSB Number | LAX97LA277 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 310 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 310 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 0139 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5100 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 1 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 381 |
| Airframe Hours | 7924 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | AEX AIR INCORPORATED |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1026 SOUTH LAGOON DRIVE |
| Aircraft Owner City | GILBERT |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 85233 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 220 S. RIVER DRIVE |
| Operator City | TEMPE |
| Operator State | AZ |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 85281 |
| Operator Code | A3XA |
| 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 | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | PHX |
| Departure City | PHOENIX |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 835 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | FFZ |
| 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 | 22L |
| Runway Length | 5100 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |