Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Walker Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Grand Junction, Colorado 81506
Tuesady, November 18, 2003 7:21 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the pilot, he was told to enter left base and was cleared to land. The pilot stated that, when he reduced the airspeed to lower the landing gear, he "heard the gear come down," and he verified "three green in the [landing] gear indicator." He landed the airplane on its "main [landing gear] wheels first" and slowly let the nose of the airplane drop. Although both main landing gear assemblies remained down and locked, the nose landing gear collapsed, allowing the nose of the airplane and both propellers to strike the runway. The airplane slid approximately 3,000 feet, coming to a stop on the right edge of the runway. Several fractured propeller pieces impacted the left and right sides of the fuselage substantially damaging two fuselage station bulkheads. The fuselage bulkhead, forward of the nose landing gear well, was also substantially damaged due to contact with the runway. The pilot said that, during the approach, from base to final, he did not hear a landing gear warning horn. An air traffic control specialist, stated that he told the pilot to enter a left base and that he was cleared to land. The specialist stated that he observed the airplane roll out on a 2-mile final "with the gear down." As the airplane was rolling down the runway the "nose wheel collapsed." An FAA inspector examined the airplane and noted that, according to the Fairchild SA226 Maintenance Manual, the nose landing gear's up-lock mechanism was not properly lubricated, a "critical clearance" measurement between the nose landing gear's bell crank roller and positioning cam was found to be out of tolerance, and when the throttles were retarded, the landing gear warning horn activated, but it was "barely audible." According to the Fairchild SA226 Maintenance Manual, the landing gear should be lubed every 200 hours. The FAA inspector stated that the approved maintenance inspection sheet for the operator, did not show the requirement for the main landing gear or nose landing gear to be lubed every 200 hours.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the operator's improper maintenance and servicing of the airplane's nose landing gear assembly, resulting in the collapse of the nose landing gear during the landing roll. Contributing factors include the nose section of the airplane's subsequent contact with the runway, the impact of several fractured propeller pieces into the fuselage, and the operator's inadequate maintenance and servicing procedures.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/18/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 721 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Grand Junction |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 81506 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 390718N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1083136W |
| Event Location Airport | Walker Field |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | GJT |
| 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 | 4858 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 731 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KGJT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4858 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| 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) | -3 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 110 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.33 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 3487 |
| 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) | 15665 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Comm Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 18 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 827 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 30 2004 12:15PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Salt Lake City FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N332BA |
| NTSB Number | DEN04LA023 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Fairchild Swearingen |
| Aircraft Model | SA226TC |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | TC-222E |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 12500 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 1 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 80.5 |
| Airframe Hours | 23972 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Key Lime Air Corp |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 24624 SW Gage Rd |
| Aircraft Owner City | Wilsonville |
| Aircraft Owner State | OR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 97070 |
| 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 | -- |
| 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 | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Cargo |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | RIL |
| Departure City | Rifle |
| Departure State | CO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 709 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | GJT |
| Destination City | Grand Junction |
| Destination State | CO |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - roll |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 21 2004 10:29AM |
| User who most recently changed record | MCBM |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 110 |
| Runway Length | 10501 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |