Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Tucson International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Tucson, Arizona 85701
Sunday, January 18, 2004 5:52 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During the landing roll, the airplane's left main landing gear collapsed and the airplane collided with a taxiway sign. While en route to his destination, the battery warning light illuminated, indicating that the electrical system was not charging. The pilot performed the emergency checklist items; however, the alternator would not reset. The pilot then reversed course to return to the departure airport. The pilot turned off all nonessential electrical equipment in an attempt to conserve battery power. The pilot extended the landing gear and 10 degrees of flaps, then turned the master switch off. The pilot later told responding airport police officers that he did not wait for the gear enunciator lights to turn green indicating that the landing gear was down-and-locked before shutting off the electrical master switch. As the airplane approached the airport, the pilot turned the master switch back on, but the battery had fully drained. The pilot said that he was unsure if the gear were down and locked so on final approach he pumped the emergency gear extension handle. During the landing roll, the left main gear collapsed. Post accident examination of the electrical system revealed that the main alternator field wire and power wire terminals were broken due to a vibration of the alternator. The alternator was not secure on its mounting bracket due to fretting on the forward portion of the alternator bracket housing, which had enlarged the holes into an oval shape. When the alternator and bracket were touched, the entire assembly would move.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the failure of the electrical charging system and pilot's failure to verify that the gear was down-and-locked prior to the complete electrical system failure.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/18/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 552 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Tucson |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85701 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 320658N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1105628W |
| Event Location Airport | Tucson International |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | TUS |
| 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 | 2643 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 555 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TUS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2643 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| 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) | 4 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 150 |
| 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) | 30.14 |
| 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) | 17587 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 18 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 700 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 28 2005 2:59PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-SDL-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4873K |
| NTSB Number | LAX04LA108 |
| 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 | P210N |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | P21000352 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2900 |
| 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 | Apr 1 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 3234.1 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | James Garrett |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Tucson |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 85749 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | TUS |
| Departure City | Tucson |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 440 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | DAL |
| Destination City | Dallas |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | -- |
| User who most recently changed record | -- |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 11L |
| Runway Length | 10996 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |