Spirit Of St. Louis Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Chesterfield, Missouri
Monday, December 13, 1982 12:22 CST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

UPON ARRIVAL OVER CHICAGO, IL, THE CREW DISCOVERED THAT THE LANDING GEAR WOULD NOT EXTEND. AFTER NUMEROUS UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPTS TO LOWER THE GEAR, THE CREW ELECTED TO RETURN TO THEIR HOME BASE AIRPORT AND MAKE A GEAR UP LANDING. THE LANDING WAS SUCCESSFUL AND THERE WERE NO INJURIES. INVESTIGATION REVEALED THAT A LOCKING NUT HAD BACKED OFF A TAPERED PIN AT THE INBOARD UNIVERSAL JOINT IN THE LEFT MAIN GEAR EXTENSION/RETRACTION TORQUE TUBE. THIS ALLOWED THE TAPERED PIN TO BACK OUT, DISCONNECTING THE TORQUE TUBE FROM THE GEAR DRIVE MOTOR. NO EVIDENCE OF FACTORY TORQUE STRIPPING WAS FOUND ON THE NUT.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Not Yet Reported

Event Information

Type of Event Incident
Event Date 12/13/1982
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1222
Event Time Zone Central Standard Time
Event City CHESTERFIELD
Event State MISSOURI
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site
Event Date Year 1982
Event Date Month 12
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS
Event Location Nearest Airport ID SUS
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport 0
Airport Elevation 0
Weather Briefing Completeness Full
Investigator's weather source Unknown
Time of the weather observation 1228
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID STL
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 Unknown
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) 40
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 0
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 190
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 13
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) 0
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 4
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 5083
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time 0
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information
Date of most recent change to record Oct 31 2002 4:04PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\ZUZL
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N6338T
NTSB Number MKC83IA036
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Minor
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name BEECH
Aircraft Model B200
Aircraft Series Identifier B200
Aircraft Serial Number BB 1042
Certified Max Gross Weight 12500
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class Unknown
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 15
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Unknown
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection 20
Airframe Hours 222
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name LA BARGE, INC.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 100 W. 10TH
Aircraft Owner City WILMINGTON
Aircraft Owner State DE
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 19801
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name LA BARGE, INC.
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address P.O. BOX 14499
Operator City ST. LOUIS
Operator State MO
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 63178
Operator Code
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) Personal
Second Pilot on Board Unknown
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code SUS
Departure City CHESTERFIELD
Departure State MO
Departure Country
Departure Time 800
Departure Time Zone
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code CGX
Destination City CHICAGO
Destination State IL
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Sep 18 2002 4:50PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 25
Runway Length 6008
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --