Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
St. Paul Downtown Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
St. Paul, Minnesota 55101
Monday, December 22, 2003 16:49 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane sustained substantial damage while landing wheels-up, subsequent to the crew being unable to extend the landing gear. The certified flight instructor (CFI) stated the landing gear did not fully extend and the gear-down lighting did not illuminate while on downwind. The CFI reported they attempted to retract the landing gear, but the gear-up light did not illuminate. The CFI stated they attempted to extend the landing gear again; however, the cabin began to fill with smoke, and the gear motor and right generator circuit breakers both tripped. The CFI reported they performed the manual gear extension procedure without success. The CFI stated that "The manual gear extension handle was not catching anything and turning very loosely." The CFI reported they landed with the landing gear retracted and subsequently impacted a runway sign. Subsequent to the accident the landing gear extension/retraction system was examined while the airplane was elevated on jackstands. The landing gear did not extend using the electric or the manual gear extension procedure. The landing gear extension/retraction gearbox was disassembled for further inspection. One of the actuator worm gear bearings was found in several pieces, resulting in the worm gear being lodged between the sector gear and the gearbox housing. According to the Beech 95-B55 maintenance manual, the landing gear extension/retraction gearbox is to be replaced or overhauled every 2,000 hours. The accident airplane's gearbox assembly had accumulated 2,137 hours since the last overhaul and 6,342 hours since new.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the worm drive bearing that resulted in the failure of the landing gear extension/retraction gearbox, which ultimately resulted in the extension of the landing gear not being possible. A factor to the accident was the airport sign that the airplane impacted during the wheels-up landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/22/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1649 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | St. Paul |
| Event State | MINNESOTA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 55101 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | Yes |
| Event Location Latitude | 445604N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0930336W |
| Event Location Airport | St. Paul Downtown Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | STP |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 705 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1653 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | STP |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 705 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Dusk |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 2 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 290 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 16 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.93 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -683 |
| 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) | 15462 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA-AGL-ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 22 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1951 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 3 2004 1:28PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA - Minneapolis FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N221Q |
| NTSB Number | CHI04LA046 |
| 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 | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | 95-B55 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | TC-804 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5100 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 3 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 42.2 |
| Airframe Hours | 6344.5 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Roba, Inc |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 770 Bayfield Street |
| Aircraft Owner City | St. Paul |
| Aircraft Owner State | MN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 55107 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | SGS |
| Departure City | South St. Paul |
| Departure State | MN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1513 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | STP |
| Destination City | St. Paul |
| Destination State | MN |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 14 2004 7:41AM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 31 |
| Runway Length | 4115 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |