Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Hawk's Nest Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Moscow, Tennessee 38057
Friday, October 3, 2008 12:15 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the pilot/owner of the Beech F17D Staggerwing biplane, on the day of the accident, he took a passenger on a brief local flight, and then they returned for some landings and takeoffs. The winds were calm, and the first landing was uneventful. The pilot took off again, circuited the traffic pattern, and landed a second time. Shortly after touchdown, the airplane began to "sink." The pilot tried to raise the nose to offload the landing gear, and he shut down the engine, while the airplane continued to settle. The propeller struck the ground, and the airplane settled on the right lower wing before it came to a stop. The aft fuselage, propeller, lower cowl and outboard spar of the right lower wing were damaged. Postaccident examination indicated that the chain used to retract and extend the right main landing gear had fractured, which resulted in the partial retraction of the landing gear. According to maintenance records, the chain was installed new in the airplane in 1969, and it had accumulated approximately 910 hours in service. The pilot/owner estimated that the chain had accumulated 1,800 cycles, with each cycle consisting of one retraction and one extension. Visual examination revealed 29 fractures in the outer chain plates, and two completely fractured outer plates, not including the chain failure point. All fractures were oriented radially with respect to the link pivots. Every outer plate was stamped with the notation "ACME 40 SINGAPORE." The National Transportation Safety Board was unable to determine whether this failure mode was limited to this make and model chain. The airplane was manufactured in 1937, and the manufacturer had not established any time or cycle life limits for the chain.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The mechanical failure of the landing gear actuation chain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/3/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1215 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Moscow |
| Event State | TENNESSEE |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 38057 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 350706N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0892204W |
| Event Location Airport | Hawk's Nest Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 4TN3 |
| 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 | 410 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1255 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | OLV |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 402 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 20 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| 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) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.07 |
| 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) | 24776 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Operator |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2008 4:07PM |
| User who most recently changed record | grer |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N18555 |
| NTSB Number | ERA09CA006 |
| 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 | BEECH |
| Aircraft Model | F17D |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 157 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3590 |
| 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 | 5 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 23 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 2922 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91-A |
| Aircraft Owner Name | BTB Limited |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Wilmington |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19810 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Bruce T Bullion |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Memphis |
| Operator State | TN |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 38119 |
| 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 | 4TN3 |
| Departure City | Moscow |
| Departure State | TN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | 4TN3 |
| Destination City | Moscow |
| Destination State | TN |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2008 4:08PM |
| User who most recently changed record | grer |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 36 |
| Runway Length | 4000 |
| Runway Width | 60 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |