Scott Afb/Mid America Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Belleville, Illinois 62225
Thursday, December 28, 2006 16:12 CST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot reported that after takeoff he selected landing gear-up, but the corresponding position light did not illuminate. He checked the landing gear motor circuit breaker and found it tripped. The pilot was unable to get the landing gear to fully extend or retract during subsequent attempts. The destination airport control tower verified that the landing gear was not fully extended during a fly-by after the pilot had attempted an emergency landing gear extension. The pilot decided to retract the landing gear as much as possible and perform a wheels-up landing in a grass area adjacent to a runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to a fuselage bulkhead during landing. Inspection of the airplane showed that the right main landing gear was partially extended with its wheel and lower strut assembly rotated in the wheelwell. The bolt that attached the upper and lower portions of the torque link assembly was sheared in half. The lower torque link was jammed against the wheelwell structure, which restricted the movement of the entire landing gear assembly. The bolt fracture features were consistent with shear overstress, as a result of torsion during the action of the torque link assembly. The bolt fracture face did not contain any evidence of fatigue cracking. The separated bolt sections were seized within the upper and lower torque links, as a result of surface corrosion.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The failure of the torque link bolt which resulted in the right main landing gear strut scissors separating and becoming jammed in the wheel well. Contributing to the accident was the seized torque link bolt due to surface corrosion.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 12/28/2006
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1612
Event Time Zone Central Standard Time
Event City Belleville
Event State ILLINOIS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 62225
Event Date Year 2006
Event Date Month 12
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 383270N
Event Location Longitude 0895010W
Event Location Airport Scott AFB/Mid America Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID BLV
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 459
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1555 Central Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID BLV
Elevation of weather observation facility 459
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation CST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 25000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling --
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 7
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 8
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 1
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 180
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 11
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.15
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 3
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 23031
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Jan 9 2007 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Feb 28 2008 3:59PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office St. Louis

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N9284P
NTSB Number CHI07LA056
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Piper
Aircraft Model PA-24-260B
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 24-4784
Certified Max Gross Weight 3100
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
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 Aug 1 2006 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 5228
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Malcolm M. Dickinson
Aircraft Owner Street Address 69 Auldwood Road
Aircraft Owner City Stamford
Aircraft Owner State CT
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 06902
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 2K0
Departure City Monticello
Departure State IL
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1507
Departure Time Zone CST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code BLV
Destination City Belleville
Destination State IL
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 29 2008 4:04PM
User who most recently changed record DINC
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --