Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
O'hare International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Chicago, Illinois 60666
Thursday, November 21, 2002 10:06 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane landed with the nose wheels turned 90 degrees to the direction of travel. The flight crew was unable to retract the landing gear after takeoff. They received the L/G SHOCK ABSORBER FAULT and AUTO FLT A/THR OFF messages on the electronic centralized aircraft monitoring (ECAM) system. In addition, they had a Nose Wheel Steering message on the landing gear ECAM page. Unable to rectify the problem, the captain elected to return to land at ORD. The captain reported that he did not have any problem controlling the airplane during the landing. During the landing roll, he was informed by the control tower that there were sparks coming from the nose gear. The airplane stopped on the runway and the passengers were deplaned. Post-incident inspection revealed the nose landing gear (NLG) wheels were turned 90 degrees to the left, both of the tires were blown, and the left side tire rim was ground down to the axle. The right side tire rim was nearly ground down to the axle. The incident occurred on the fourth flight following a maintenance "C" check where the dynamic seals inside the nose landing gear (NLG) shock absorber had been replaced. The maintenance was performed by a contract facility. Inspection and teardown of the nose gear revealed the shock absorber had been assembled and installed in the airplane incorrectly during the C-check. This resulted in the anti-rotation lugs on the shock absorber, not being properly seated in the back plate slots. Following this incident, the back plate manufacturer has redesigned the back plate (waiting manufacturer and DGAC approval), the operator has revised their job instruction cards for disassembly and assembly of the NLG shock absorber, and the aircraft manufacturer has revised the Aircraft Maintenance Manual.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The maintenance facililty improperly assembled and installed the nose landing gear shock absorber assembly. Factors were the improper assembly which allowed the nose gear to turn 90 degrees to the direction of travel.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 11/21/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1006 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Chicago |
| Event State | ILLINOIS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 60666 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 415847N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0875416W |
| Event Location Airport | O'Hare International |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | ORD |
| 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 | 668 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1013 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ORD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 668 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 6 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 10 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 13 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.71 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -5 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Light |
| 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 | 82 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 15276 |
| NTSB Notification Source | ORD Operations |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 21 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1013 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 28 2004 3:34PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Schiller Park, IL ORD FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N804UA |
| NTSB Number | CHI03IA027 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 121: Air Carrier |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Minor |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Airbus Industrie |
| Aircraft Model | A319-131 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 759 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 154300 |
| 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 | 124 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 20 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 9 |
| Airframe Hours | 17152 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | United Air Lines Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1200 E. Algonquin Rd. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Arlington Heights |
| Aircraft Owner State | IL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 60005 |
| 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 | UAL |
| 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 | ORD |
| Departure City | Chicago |
| Departure State | IL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 918 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | LAX |
| Destination City | Los Angeles |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - flare/touchdown |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 24 2004 1:58PM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 4R |
| Runway Length | 8071 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |