Kissimmee Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Kissimmee, Florida 34741
Thursday, August 21, 1997 15:30 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

After departure the pilot noted that the 'gear unsafe warning light stayed on after [the] gear was retracted.' The pilot said he, 'checked and found [the] circuit breaker for [the] gear hydraulic motor popped.' He reset the circuit breaker and cycled the landing gear down, at which point he noted that 'only 2 green lights illuminated for the main gear.' The nose gear light was out. He then switched bulbs and determined that the bulb was 'good.' He then pulled the emergency gear extension with the gear handle in the down position and he said that he 'still only had 2 green lights for main gear.' The pilot circled the airport due to the problem he was having extending the nose landing gear, and was advised by the tower that that the nose gear appeared to be in midway position. He then made an approach and landing on runway 24. The airplane landed hard on the main landing gear, and a wing struck the ground. The airplane was placed on jacks and the landing gear was examined. The nose gear was extended by hand, it was revealed that the steering ball was outside of its track, causing the nose gear not extend.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

a hard landing resulting in a wing contacting the runway. A factor in this accident was the nose landing gear would not extend due to the steering ball being off its track.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/21/1997
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1530
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City KISSIMMEE
Event State FLORIDA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 34741
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 KISSIMMEE MUNICIPAL
Event Location Nearest Airport ID ISM
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 83
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
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 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) --
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 240
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 536
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Aug 21 1997 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1600
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 N55322
NTSB Number MIA97LA238
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 Piper
Aircraft Model PA-34-200
Aircraft Series Identifier PA-34-200
Aircraft Serial Number 34-7350201
Certified Max Gross Weight 3925
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 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Jul 1 1997 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 69
Airframe Hours 6889
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name AVIATION ENTERPRISES UNLIMTED
Aircraft Owner Street Address 1020 NW 62ND ST. HGR 10
Aircraft Owner City FT. LAUDERDALE
Aircraft Owner State FL
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 33309
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 No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code LEE
Departure City LEESBURG
Departure State FL
Departure Country
Departure Time 1445
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code
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 10:34AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 24
Runway Length 5001
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --