Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Vandenberg Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Tampa, Florida 33609
Thursday, April 25, 2002 17:45 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the pilot's statement, after a landing and upon touchdown, he said he "…observed an abnormal touchdown...and knew there was a mechanical problem." He aborted the landing, cycled the gear twice, and noted the gear unsafe light had remained illuminated. He then returned to the departure airport, for further assessment of the landing gear situation by the tower personnel. The tower personal confirmed there was damage to the left main gear, He then proceeded to burn off about 1 1/2 hours of fuel before attempting a landing. The pilot landed on the grass next to the paved runway, touching down on the nose and right main landing gears. Examination of the landing gear revealed that the upper barrel (p/n 5141002-11) fractured as result of fatigue cracking, above a brazed-on collar, as a result of improper machining after the barrel was assembled during the manufacturing process.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the fracture of the landing gear upper barrel due to fatigue cracking, caused by improper machining after the barrel was assembled during the manufacturing process, resulting in damage to the airplane.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/25/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1745 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Tampa |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33609 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 280032N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0822058W |
| Event Location Airport | VANDENBERG |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | VDF |
| 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 | 20 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1741 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | VDF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 22 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| 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) | 30 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 21 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.04 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1686 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 14079 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA SE Reg Com Ctr |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 25 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1645 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 30 2003 9:55AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Tampa |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N237SM |
| NTSB Number | MIA02LA089 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 421C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 421C-0237 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 7450 |
| 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 | 7 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 29 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 40 |
| Airframe Hours | 3670.5 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MBA Graphics Inc |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | PO Box 476A |
| Aircraft Owner City | Tampa |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 33608 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | VDF |
| Departure City | Tampa |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1445 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | PCM |
| Destination City | PLANT CITY |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - roll |
| Report sent to ICAO? | Yes |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 16 2003 9:28AM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 23 |
| Runway Length | 5000 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |