Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Danbury Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Danbury, Connecticut 06810
Thursday, January 18, 2007 15:15 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During a pre-buy and annual condition inspection of an amateur built Searey, the mechanic advised the pilot that the airplane's landing gear was out of adjustment. According to the airplane's maintenance records, the mechanic removed two bolts from the gear retraction drag links that were "to short," and replaced them with longer ones. He also found that the bolts were hitting the over center links and "repositioned the washers for more clearance." He then performed a retraction and extension test of the landing gear. Two landings later, the left main gear collapsed. The airplane slid off the side of the runway, struck a taxiway sign and was substantially damaged. During a postaccident examination by the airplane kit manufacturer, it was discovered that the "lock arms" were carrying the landing gear loads instead of the flat portion of the "angle" assembly, which normally rested against a wear pad. Further examination revealed that, sometime prior to the accident the bulkhead upright tubes had been bent outwards and the forked end of the hydraulic ram was out of adjustment and could not fully retract, keeping the knee joint from traveling into the over-center locking position.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Collapse of the left main landing gear due to previous damage. A factor in the accident was the inadequate annual condition inspection.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/18/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1515 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Danbury |
| Event State | CONNECTICUT |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 06810 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 412218N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0732856W |
| Event Location Airport | Danbury Municipal Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | DXR |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 458 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1525 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DXR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 458 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2400 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 1600 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 1.5 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 0 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.38 |
| 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) | 21241 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA NEROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 19 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 2 2007 4:59PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Windsor Locks, CT |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N477EM |
| NTSB Number | NYC07CA057 |
| 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 | Foley James |
| Aircraft Model | Searey |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1DK178 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1370 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 1 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 3.5 |
| Airframe Hours | 121 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | DAL Companies |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Sioux Falls |
| Aircraft Owner State | SD |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 57105 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | N41 |
| Departure City | Waterbury |
| Departure State | CT |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1445 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | DXR |
| Destination City | Danbury |
| Destination State | CT |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 2 2007 4:48PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MUZD |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 17 |
| Runway Length | 3135 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |