Flagler County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Bunnell, Florida 32110
Thursday, July 4, 2002 13:30 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot stated that the airplane had just received an annual inspection, and it was being flight tested. He said he had flown it for about 10 minutes, and upon returning to the airport for landing, he noted a "down and locked" indication for the nose gear and the left main landing gear, but there was no "down and locked" indication for the right main landing gear. He said he cycled the landing gear, did a "fly by" of the airport and queried personnel on the ground to verify the landing gear's condition, and departed the airport traffic pattern to perform the appropriate emergency checklist, but he said the stated landing gear indications persisted, and upon landing the right main gear collapsed, and the airplane exited the runway incurring damage. An FAA Inspector who conducted a postaccident examination of the airplane said that the right main landing gear extension tube had broken due to a weak/stretched over center spring.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

An improper maintenance inspection of the landing gear system by other maintenance personnel that resulted in a worn/loose over center spring for the right main landing gear being kept in service which caused the right main landing gear not to go over center and lock, which resulted in the right main landing gear collapsing and damage to the airplane.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/4/2002
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1330
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Bunnell
Event State FLORIDA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 32110
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 292802N
Event Location Longitude 0811223W
Event Location Airport Flagler County
Event Location Nearest Airport ID X47
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 32
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID DAB
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
Lighting Conditions --
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 4300
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
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) 31
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 21
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 290
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 5
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator --
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.04
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 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 12479
NTSB Notification Source Pilot/Owner
NTSB Notification Date Jul 4 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1447
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Dec 6 2002 3:26PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Orlando FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N15FH
NTSB Number MIA02LA128
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 --
Aircraft Explosion --
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 340A
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 340-00722
Certified Max Gross Weight 6025
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
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 Jul 2 2002 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 0
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Donald D. Johnson
Aircraft Owner Street Address 4645 Sweetgale Drive
Aircraft Owner City San Ramon
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 94583
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 X47
Departure City Bunnell
Departure State FL
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1315
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City --
Destination State --
Destination Country --
Specific Phase of Flight Emergency landing
Report sent to ICAO? Yes
Evacuation occurred Yes
Date of most recent change to record Oct 22 2002 10:53AM
User who most recently changed record KENJ
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 24
Runway Length 5000
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --