Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Orlando Sanford Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Sanford, Florida 32773
Monday, February 24, 2003 14:32 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Before the flight departed, hydraulic fluid was added to the landing gear hydraulic system. The certified flight instructor (CFI) reported that after takeoff the landing gear retracted without incident. The flight proceeded to the practice area where airwork was performed. The flight continued and when the landing gear was extended prior to performing additional airwork, it failed to extend. The emergency checklist was followed but failed to extend the landing gear. The flight returned to the departure airport and the flight crew contacted dispatch in an attempt to lower the landing gear which was unsuccessful. Additionally, the CFI attempted to manually extend the main landing gear but was unable. The flight returned for landing and with the nose landing gear extended and the main landing gear in trail, the main landing gear collapsed at touchdown. Examination of the airplane by an FAA Airworthiness inspector revealed the hand pump suction line assembly part number 2480001-23, was damaged. Hydraulic fluid covered the area. The line was retained for further examination. The damaged line was examined by the NTSB Materials Laboratory. Examination of the line revealed at least 8 transverse cuts in the tube section of the line adjacent to the end ferrule. A cut directly adjacent to the end ferrule penetrated the wall thickness and was slightly less than .03 inch wide. The sides of that cut were straight into the tube but the bottom of the cut had a curved surface progressing to a sharp bottom. The other cuts did not penetrate the wall thickness, and loss of metal at the cut locations appeared to be primarily from metal flow as opposed to being from grinding or cutting away material. There was no evidence that the edges of the ferrule or B-nut created the cuts in the tubing.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The intentional cutting of the hydraulic line by an unknown person resulting in the loss of hydraulic fluid and the inability of the pilot-in-command to extend and lock the main landing gear, and subsequent collapse of the main landing gear after touchdown.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/24/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1432 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Sanford |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 32773 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 284640N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0811415W |
| Event Location Airport | Orlando Sanford |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KSFB |
| 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 | 55 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1439 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KSFB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 55 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| 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) | 25 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 110 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.19 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 15562 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Comm. Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 24 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1447 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 3 2004 1:28PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Orlando, Florida |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5177R |
| NTSB Number | MIA03LA070 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 172RG |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 172RG0045 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2650 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 3 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 99.3 |
| Airframe Hours | 9564.2 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Comair Aviation Academy |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2700 Flightline Avenue |
| Aircraft Owner City | Sanford |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 327739683 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | KSFB |
| Departure City | Sanford |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1130 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | KSFB |
| Destination City | Sanford |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - roll |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | Yes |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 30 2004 9:05AM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 9L |
| Runway Length | 9600 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |