West Houston Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Houston, Texas 77084
Friday, May 30, 2003 14:00 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During landing, the airplane touched down at approximately 75 knots. When the nose wheel came down and touched, there was a "minor high frequency shimmy and the pilot immediately pulled the stick back and the shimmy stopped." As the airspeed bled off, the nose wheel came back in contact with the runway and "tracked straight down the runway." At approximately 15 - 18 knots, the airplane suddenly started to shimmy and was "so bad, the pilot couldn't even see." Examination of the airplane logbooks revealed the nose wheel shimmy damper was repacked prior to the last departure.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The failure of the nose wheel landing gear shimmy damper for undetermined reasons.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/30/2003
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1400
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Houston
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 77084
Event Date Year 2003
Event Date Month 5
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 294905N
Event Location Longitude 0954021W
Event Location Airport West Houston Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID IWS
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 111
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Pilot
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID --
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
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) 28
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 180
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 10
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
Density Altitude (feet) --
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 14607
NTSB Notification Source PILOT / OPERATOR
NTSB Notification Date Jun 2 2003 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1500
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 Houston FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N14124
NTSB Number FTW03LA170
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name North American
Aircraft Model T-28A
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 51-3693
Certified Max Gross Weight 8350
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 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection May 1 2002 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 27.2
Airframe Hours 5664
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Bobby R. Jackson
Aircraft Owner Street Address 18000 Groeschje Road
Aircraft Owner City Houston
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 77084
Operator is an individual? Yes
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) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code RVS
Departure City TULSA
Departure State OK
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1200
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code IWS
Destination City HOUSTON
Destination State TX
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - roll
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred Yes
Date of most recent change to record Nov 13 2003 4:31PM
User who most recently changed record CASH
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 15
Runway Length 3953
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --