Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Philadelphia International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19113
Sunday, November 16, 2008 9:34 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane was on approach for landing. When the landing gear was selected to the extended position, the main landing gear extended properly but the nose landing gear did not. The crew performed a go-around, exited the airport airspace, and unsuccessfully attempted to extend the nose landing gear using several checklists and in consult with ground-based maintenance personnel. A subsequent fly-by of the air traffic control tower confirmed that the nose landing gear doors were open, but that the nose landing gear was not extended. The captain subsequently landed the airplane with the nose landing gear retracted and delayed lowering the nose until the slowest speed possible. The nose of the airplane contacted the runway and the airplane slid for about 525 feet before it stopped. There was no fire, and the passengers deplaned normally at the scene. On-site examination of the airplane and a laboratory examination of the nosegear components revealed that the steering links had been circumferentially loaded in tension beyond their load-carrying capacity. Failure of the steering links allowed the nosewheels to rotate in the wheel well and become wedged within the structure. Hardness testing satisfied the manufacturer's minimum requirements and no determination could be made as to when the overload occurred.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The mechanical overload of the nosewheel steering links for undetermined reasons, which resulted in nose landing gear rotation and its subsequent wedging within the wheel well structure.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 11/16/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 934 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Philadelphia |
| Event State | PENNSYLVANIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 19113 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 395205N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0751420W |
| Event Location Airport | Philadelphia International |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PHL |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 36 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 954 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 358 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PHL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 36 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 9 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 280 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 24 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 30 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.7 |
| 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 | 38 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 27089 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Eastern Region ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 21 2010 10:24PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coxp |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N326EN |
| NTSB Number | ERA09IA056 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 121: Air Carrier |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Minor |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | DeHavilland |
| Aircraft Model | DHC-8-311 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 234 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 43200 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 2 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | 2 |
| Passenger Seats | 50 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 54 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 1 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 33224 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91-A |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Wells Fargo bank Northwest NA Trustee |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 299 S Main St |
| Aircraft Owner City | Salt Lake City |
| Aircraft Owner State | UT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 84111 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Piedmont Airlines |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Salisbury |
| Operator State | MD |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 21801 |
| Operator Code | HNAA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| 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 | Scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | ABE |
| Departure City | Allentown |
| Departure State | PA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 750 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | PHL |
| Destination City | Philadelphia |
| Destination State | PA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 26 2010 3:18PM |
| User who most recently changed record | etcs |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 27L |
| Runway Length | 10506 |
| Runway Width | 200 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |