Agua Caliente Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Agua Caliente, California 91350
Monday, December 9, 2002 15:15 PST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The flight instructor and commercial pilot were practicing landings on a hard-surfaced runway. During the accident landing roll, the airplane's right main landing gear collapsed, and the airplane veered off the runway. Prior to touchdown, the flight instructor stated that he verified that the landing gear were in the down position, with all three gear down indicators illuminated. Postaccident inspection of the landing gear mechanism disclosed that the left main landing gear and the nose gear were fully extended; the right main landing gear was almost fully retracted. Examination of the right main landing gear actuator revealed that it had bulged and cracked along the axis of the hydraulic cylinder. The fracture surfaces of the crack were indicative of overload facture, with no evidence of fatigue cracks.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The failure of the right main landing gear actuator during the landing roll, which resulted in a collapse of the right main land gear, and loss of directional control.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 12/9/2002
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1515
Event Time Zone Pacific Standard Time
Event City Agua Caliente
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 91350
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 12
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 325700N
Event Location Longitude 1161736W
Event Location Airport Agua Caliente Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID L54
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 1220
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1455 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 238
Weather Observation Facility ID NJK
Elevation of weather observation facility -43
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 32
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 18000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 7
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 21
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 1
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 90
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 6
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.1
Density Altitude (feet) 576
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) 16978
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Dec 10 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1030
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Dec 28 2004 12:45PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office WP-SAN-FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N732HJ
NTSB Number LAX03TA048
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed VFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model T210L
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 21061523
Certified Max Gross Weight 3800
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 3
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection AAIP
Date of Last Inspection Nov 26 2002 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 12
Airframe Hours 7048
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name US CUSTOMS SERVICE
Aircraft Owner Street Address 5020 S. Meridian
Aircraft Owner City Oklahoma City
Aircraft Owner State OK
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 73119
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name San Diego Air and Marine Branch
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address Building 1480, NAS
Operator City San Diego
Operator State CA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 92135
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) Public Use
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code NZY
Departure City San Diego
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1445
Departure Time Zone PST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code L70
Destination City Agua Caliente
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - roll
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Oct 28 2004 3:37PM
User who most recently changed record LABJ
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location 29
Runway Length 2500
Runway Width 60
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --