Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Key West Intl Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Key West, Florida 33040
Saturday, March 31, 2007 10:38 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that when he extended the landing gear on final approach he received a green gear down light. During landing rollout the nose landing gear collapsed. Examination of the airplane after the incident by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspectors showed the nose landing gear torque link had failed, causing the nose landing gear to collapse. Metallurgical examination of the nose landing gear drag brace was performed at the National Transportation Safety Board Materials Laboratory. The examination showed the drag brace had fractured in the tubing; at a point just forward of the right attach point. The fracture faces displayed surfaces that were inclined at approximately 45-degrees to the axis of the separated portion of the tubing, consistent with an overload event. The incident airplane was manufactured in January 1973. A representative from Hawker-Beechcraft stated that beginning in model year 1978, an improved nose landing gear drag brace was incorporated into new production airplanes. Beech also issued service kit 35-4012-1 S, which allowed for upgrade of earlier model E-55 airplanes with the improved nose landing gear drag brace. The representative stated that pictures of the failed drag brace from the accident airplane shows it was not the improved drag brace. Maintenance personnel for the incident airplane owner stated that a review of airplane logbook records show no evidence that the drag brace had been changed in the life of the airplane and that the failed drag brace appeared to be the original supplied with the airplane from the factory.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Failure of the nose landing gear drag brace due to overload during landing rollout for undetermined reasons. Contributing to the accident was the airplane had not been modified with an improved nose landing gear drag brace.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 3/31/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1038 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Key West |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33040 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 243322N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0814534W |
| Event Location Airport | KEY WEST INTL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | EYW |
| 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 | 3 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1053 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | EYW |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2800 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| 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) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 19 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 120 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.13 |
| 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) | 23739 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ROC ATL |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 31 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 30 2008 11:48AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | South Florida FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N25612 |
| NTSB Number | MIA07IA080 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Minor |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | E-55 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | TE-897 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5300 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 1 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 13 |
| Airframe Hours | 3320 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Baron Flyers, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2611 Bay Drive |
| Aircraft Owner City | Bradenton |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 34207 |
| 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 | SRQ |
| Departure City | Sarasota |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 934 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | EYW |
| Destination City | Key West |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - roll |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 4 2008 9:50AM |
| User who most recently changed record | MUZD |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 09 |
| Runway Length | 4801 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |