Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Rockingham County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Reidsville, North Carolina 27320
Sunday, March 30, 2003 17:00 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot departed on an instrument flight rules flight plan and heard a "pop" noise during the gear retraction sequence on climb out. Upon arrival at his destination airport he completed the before landing checklist and the landing gear did not fully extend. The pilot was informed by ground personnel the main landing gear appeared to be fully extended, however the nose gear was partially extended. Efforts by the pilot to extend the landing gear were unsuccessful and he made a forced landing to the grass area adjacent to the active runway. The airplane touched down on the main landing gear, ballooned back into the air, and collided with the ground in a nose down attitude. Examination of the airplane revealed the left landing gear door link was not connected. Review of the airplane logbook revealed an annual inspection and landing gear inspection was completed on March 30, 2003, the same day as the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of maintenance personnel to properly install the nose gear landing door link during an annual inspection that resulted in the failure of the nose gear to fully extend.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/30/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1700 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Reidsville |
| Event State | NORTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 27320 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | -- |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | -- |
| Event Location Latitude | 362613N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0795103W |
| Event Location Airport | Rockingham County |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 78N |
| 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 | 693 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1654 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 191 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GSO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 926 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 21 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 4000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 300 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 4 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 340 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.93 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -117 |
| 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) | 14518 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Communications Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 30 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1845 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 30 2003 8:55AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Greensboro FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5810X |
| NTSB Number | ATL03LA071 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 310F |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 310-0110 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4830 |
| 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 | 5 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 30 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 3.6 |
| Airframe Hours | 3801.4 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Flight Services Unlimited |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 534 Air Harbor Blvd. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Greensboro |
| Aircraft Owner State | NC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 27455 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Patrick L. Owens |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 534 Air Harbor Blvd. |
| Operator City | Greensboro |
| Operator State | NC |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 27455 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 5R2 |
| Departure City | Ocean Springs |
| Departure State | MS |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1234 |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | 78N |
| Destination City | Reidsville |
| Destination State | NC |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 19 2003 10:57AM |
| User who most recently changed record | POWP |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 31 |
| Runway Length | 5199 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |