Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Waukegan Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Waukegan, Illinois 60085
Tuesady, June 15, 2004 13:24 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The aircraft was substantially damaged during a hard landing, which subsequently collapsed the nose landing gear and wrinkled the fuselage. The pilot stated that the approach was "fairly" stabilized, however, he noted he was late getting set-up for landing. He did not recall how many green landing gear extension lights he observed prior to landing. The pilot reported that when the main landing gear touched down on landing the nose of the aircraft "immediately dropped to the runway." He reported that the aircraft came to rest headed straight down the runway, approximately on the centerline. The post-accident examination determined that the nose landing gear was in a retracted position in the wheel well. The remaining sections of the nose landing gear doors were wedged behind the landing gear strut. The lower, outboard section of the fuselage was wrinkled from the nose landing gear to a point approximately even with the windshield. The aircraft manufacturer stated that the nose landing gear doors are mechanically actuated.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's misjudgment of the landing flare which resulted in a hard landing. Contributing factors were the subsequent overload and collapse of the nose landing gear.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/15/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1324 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Waukegan |
| Event State | ILLINOIS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 60085 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 422520N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0875204W |
| Event Location Airport | Waukegan Regional |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | UGN |
| 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 | 727 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1255 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | UGN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 727 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| 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) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 70 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.07 |
| 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) | 17406 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 15 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1418 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 30 2005 6:20AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA-DuPage FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N77DK |
| NTSB Number | CHI04LA155 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Mitsubishi |
| Aircraft Model | MU-2B-40 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 449 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 10470 |
| 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 | 9 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 28 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 2509 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Daniel L. Knopper |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 6597 W Knollwood |
| Aircraft Owner City | West Bloomfield |
| Aircraft Owner State | MI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 48322 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| 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 | PTK |
| Departure City | Pontiac |
| Departure State | MI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1230 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | UGN |
| Destination City | Waukegan |
| Destination State | IL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - flare/touchdown |
| 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 | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 23 |
| Runway Length | 6000 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |