Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Crystal River Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Crystal River, Florida 34423
Sunday, December 21, 2003 13:00 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that during takeoff/initial climb, at an altitude of about 500 feet, he placed the landing gear handle in the "UP" position, and during retraction, heard a loud bang, and the rudder pedals shuttered. He said he lowered the gear handle, and received a green light indication only the main gear. He then retarded the throttle levers to check for the landing gear warning horn, but the horn did not activate. He said he then performed the emergency gear extension procedure, but the nose gear did not extend. During subsequent landing rollout, as the airspeed decreased the nose gear collapsed, and the airplane skidded to a halt on the runway. Examination of the airplane's maintenance records showed that maintenance had been performed on the airplane's nose gear 11 hours prior to the accident, and 5 hours prior to the accident the airplane had received an annual inspection. Postaccident examination of the airplane's nose landing gear revealed that the damage was consistent with the nose gear strut not receiving proper service, having deflated, and being out of alignment.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Inadequate maintenance by company maintenance personnel, which resulted in operation of the airplane with a deflated nose landing gear strut, which resulted in the nose gear failing to lock in position, gear collapse, and damage to the airplane during landing rollout.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/21/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1300 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Crystal River |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 34423 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 285204N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0823428W |
| Event Location Airport | Crystal River Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | CGC |
| 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 | 9 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1253 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 160 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BKV |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 80 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 24 |
| 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) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 30 |
| 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) | 30.43 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 18503 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ATL Comm. Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 21 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1638 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 27 2005 6:51AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Tampa, Florida |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5811M |
| NTSB Number | MIA04LA036 |
| 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 | 310P |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 310PO111 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5200 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 12 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 5 |
| Airframe Hours | 5504 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Crystal Aero Group Inc., |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. Box 2050 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Crystal River |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 34423 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | -- |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| 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 | CGC |
| Departure City | Crystal River |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1300 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | CGC |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | Yes |
| Evacuation occurred | Yes |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 12 2005 2:59PM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 9 |
| Runway Length | 4555 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |