Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Boise, Idaho 83701
Friday, March 1, 2002 18:40 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During en route cruise, there was a failure of a number two system elevator hydraulic line. This resulted in a loss of hydraulic fluid and loss of pressurization in the number two system. The loss of this system resulted in the rudder being dependent upon the sole remaining activation system (hydraulic system number one) for its operation. After the landing gear was lowered manually, the aircraft landed without further incident, but because the loss of the number two system rendered the nose wheel steering inoperative, the aircraft had to be towed from the runway. The reason for the failure of the hydraulic line could not be positively determined.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The partial failure of one of the number two hydraulic system elevator hydraulic lines, leading to the loss of fluid and pressure in that system during cruise flight. This loss resulted in reliance upon the sole remaining activation system (number one hydraulic) to operate the rudder.

Event Information

Type of Event Incident
Event Date 3/1/2002
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1840
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City Boise
Event State IDAHO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 83701
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 3
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport --
Event Location Nearest Airport ID --
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Pilot
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID --
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 4500
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 11
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator Variable
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator Light and Variable
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 73
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 11778
NTSB Notification Source FAA Operations Center
NTSB Notification Date Mar 1 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1845
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jun 3 2002 12:16PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Boise FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N410QX
NTSB Number SEA02IA044
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 121: Air Carrier
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage None
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Bombardier
Aircraft Model DHC-8-401
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 4053
Certified Max Gross Weight 64500
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 74
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Continuous Airworthiness
Date of Last Inspection Jan 2 2002 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 349
Airframe Hours 726
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Wells Fargo Bank NW, NA
Aircraft Owner Street Address 795 S. Main Street
Aircraft Owner City Salt Lake City
Aircraft Owner State UT
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 84111
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Horizon Airlines
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 19521 Pacific Highway South
Operator City Seattle
Operator State WA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 98148
Operator Code QXEA
Owner has at least one certificate --
Other Operator of large aircraft? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not Scheduled
Indicates Domestic or International Flight Domestic
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail Passenger Only
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) --
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code SEA
Departure City Seattle
Departure State WA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1640
Departure Time Zone PST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code BOI
Destination City Boise
Destination State ID
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise
Report sent to ICAO? Yes
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Mar 18 2002 5:32PM
User who most recently changed record STAM
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --