Albuquerque Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Albuquerque, New Mexico 87106
Wednesday, October 14, 2009 15:58 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The single-engine airplane had just undergone an annual inspection, which included several landing gear retraction and emergency gear extension tests. The commercial pilot performed an extensive pre-flight inspection before he departed on its first post-maintenance flight and found no anomalies. Shortly after takeoff, as the pilot retracted the landing gear, the hydraulic pump stopped and the "gear-up" light did not illuminate. He then tried to extend the gear and nothing happened. The pilot referenced an inspection mirror on the right wing and realized all three landing gear were dangling between the up and down positions. The pilot stabilized the airplane and used his cell phone to call Cessna Aircraft Company. An engineer provided troubleshooting techniques, but the pilot was unable to secure the gear in the down-and-locked position. The pilot then made a partial gear-up landing, which resulted in substantial damage to the left horizontal stabilizer. The airplane had been modified under a Supplemental Type Certificate in 1987, which removed the main landing gear doors and replaced them with fairings. As a result, some of the landing gear hydraulic lines were capped. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector performed an examination of the airplane and found a hydraulic line in the landing gear system that was not properly capped and was leaking. The line was re-capped and several gear extension/retraction tests were successfully performed. The uncapped line should have been found and repaired during the annual inspection.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The mechanic's failure to find and repair a leaking main landing gear hydraulic line during an annual inspection.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/14/2009
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1558
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City Albuquerque
Event State NEW MEXICO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 87106
Event Date Year 2009
Event Date Month 10
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 350214N
Event Location Longitude 1063620W
Event Location Airport Albuquerque
Event Location Nearest Airport ID ABQ
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 5355
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Pilot
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID --
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
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) 50
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 21
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 240
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 14
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.04
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) 26424
NTSB Notification Source ABQ FSDO
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Apr 23 2010 3:43PM
User who most recently changed record broda
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N211LC
NTSB Number CEN10LA014
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 T210L
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 21060364
Certified Max Gross Weight 3800
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats 2
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats 4
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 14 2009 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 1
Airframe Hours 6366
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name SUDDARTH STEVEN CRAIG
Aircraft Owner Street Address 40 BLANCO DR
Aircraft Owner City EDGEWOOD
Aircraft Owner State NM
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 87015-9578
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name SUDDARTH STEVEN CRAIG
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address 40 BLANCO DR
Operator City EDGEWOOD
Operator State NM
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 87015-9578
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 No
Departure Airport Code 1N1
Departure City Edgewood
Departure State NM
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1200
Departure Time Zone MST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code ABQ
Destination City Albuquerque
Destination State NM
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Apr 15 2010 12:03PM
User who most recently changed record yeal
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 26
Runway Length 13793
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --