John Wayne Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Santa Ana, California 92707
Monday, September 29, 2003 17:00 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot intentionally landed the airplane with the landing gear retracted. In preparation for landing, he lowered the landing gear handle but did not get a green safe light. The pilot could visually see that the right main strut was not in position. He cycled the landing gear multiple times and contacted Sunrise Aviation via the radio for troubleshooting assistance but the situation could not be remedied. He decided to make an intentional gear up landing. Examination of the airplane revealed failure of the right landing gear pivot assembly.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the failure of the right main landing gear pivot assembly.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/29/2003
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1700
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Santa Ana
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 92707
Event Date Year 2003
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 334032N
Event Location Longitude 1175209W
Event Location Airport John Wayne Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID KSNA
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 --
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1653 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID KSNA
Elevation of weather observation facility 56
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 1200
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) 20
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 17
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 200
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) 29.85
Density Altitude (feet) 728
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) 16973
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Oct 10 2003 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 900
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-FSDO-Long Beach, CA

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N9564B
NTSB Number LAX03LA290
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 Cessna
Aircraft Model 172RG
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 172RG0884
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 Sep 5 2003 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 7748
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Sunrise Aviation
Aircraft Owner Street Address 19531 Campus Dr
Aircraft Owner City Santa Ana
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 92707
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) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code KSNA
Departure City Santa Ana
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1430
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code KSNA
Destination City --
Destination State --
Destination Country --
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Oct 23 2004 11:32AM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 19R
Runway Length 5700
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --