Spirit Of St. Louis Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

St. Louis, Missouri 63005
Friday, September 19, 2008 16:03 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

According to the pilot, he had just departed when he noted that he had a "landing gear problem." After multiple attempts to extend the landing gear, the pilot performed a gear up landing, resulting in substantial damage to the fuselage. Examination revealed that the nose gear door was jammed and had prevented the nose landing gear from extending. An examination of the maintenance records revealed that the day prior to the accident, the airplane was in for maintenance directly related to the landing gear door and damage to the door lip. The mechanic performed two gear swings without issue and the airplane was returned to service with the intent to repair the gear door damage when the airplane was in for an annual inspection in October.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The improper maintenance performed resulting in a jammed nose landing gear door preventing the extension of the nose landing gear.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/19/2008
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1603
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City St. Louis
Event State MISSOURI
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 63005
Event Date Year 2008
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? Yes
Event Location Latitude 383943N
Event Location Longitude 0903907W
Event Location Airport Spirit of St. Louis Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID SUS
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 1
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 463
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1531 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID KSTL
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 25000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 5000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 28
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 15
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 120
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 7
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 24622
NTSB Notification Source FAA ACE ROC
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Nov 19 2008 9:23AM
User who most recently changed record bowl
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N6416V
NTSB Number DEN08LA159
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 CESSNA
Aircraft Model 172RG
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number --
Certified Max Gross Weight 2685
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 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection May 12 2008 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 8321.4
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Convergent Aviation Ventures LLC
Aircraft Owner Street Address 221 Monclay Court
Aircraft Owner City Kirkwood
Aircraft Owner State MO
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 63122
Operator is an individual? Yes
Operator Name Gilbert Franck
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Chesterfield
Operator State MO
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code --
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
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 Yes
Departure Airport Code SUS
Departure City St. Louis
Departure State MO
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1250
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code SUS
Destination City St. Louis
Destination State MO
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Oct 21 2008 12:28PM
User who most recently changed record kaij
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 08L
Runway Length 5000
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --