Los Alamos Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Los Alamos, New Mexico 87544
Sunday, October 28, 2007 17:30 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

According to the pilot's statement, during his approach to Los Alamos, he attempted to extend the landing gear. During the gear extension, the pilot noted that "something did not sound right, and [I] did not get a gear down indication in the cockpit." The pilot cycled the landing gear approximately "10 to 15 times in various speeds, power settings, g-loads, and attitudes" with no result. The pilot attempted to extend the landing gear manually, again with no result. The pilot then decided to fly the airplane to the airport in Santa Fe, New Mexico, which has a control tower, and have the tower controllers visually verify that the landing gear was down. The tower controller at Santa Fe advised the pilot that the airplane's nose landing gear was not extended and the nose gear doors were closed. After several more unsuccessful attempts to troubleshoot the problem, the pilot returned to Los Alamos and landed the airplane with the nose gear retracted, resulting in substantial damage. The airplane was examined and the landing gear was operated by a FAA inspector. During the first gear extension the nose landing gear unlocked, but the nose landing gear doors did not open. A mechanic pushed lightly on the gear doors and they came open, and the nose landing gear came down and locked. Subsequent cycles of the landing gear could not duplicate the problem.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The binding of the nose landing gear doors for undetermined reasons, resulting in the pilot having to make a nose gear up landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/28/2007
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1730
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City Los Alamos
Event State NEW MEXICO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 87544
Event Date Year 2007
Event Date Month 10
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 355228N
Event Location Longitude 1061605W
Event Location Airport Los Alamos Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID LAM
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 7171
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1730 Mountain Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID KLAM
Elevation of weather observation facility 7171
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation MDT
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) 20
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 1
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator --
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator Calm
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.53
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) 22862
NTSB Notification Source FAA-Southwest Region
NTSB Notification Date Oct 28 2007 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jan 30 2008 4:08PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office FAA - Albuquerque FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N8251M
NTSB Number DEN08LA021
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 Cessna
Aircraft Model T210K
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 59251
Certified Max Gross Weight 3800
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 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Oct 1 2007 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 12
Airframe Hours 5646
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name John R. Heineman
Aircraft Owner Street Address 124 Monte Vista St.
Aircraft Owner City White Rock
Aircraft Owner State NM
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 87544
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) Business
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code CNM
Departure City Carlsbad
Departure State NM
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1430
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code LAM
Destination City Los Alamos
Destination State NM
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Dec 18 2007 5:49PM
User who most recently changed record BOWL
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 27
Runway Length 5550
Runway Width 113
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --