Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Blue Grass Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Lexington, Kentucky 40510
Thursday, December 10, 2009 12:05 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilots were practicing instrument approaches and performed a missed approach. At that time, the landing gear was retracted and the corresponding gear retracted cockpit indication was noted; however, the approach controller advised the pilots that the nose landing gear appeared to remain in the extended position. The pilots then selected the nose landing gear to the extended position and noted the corresponding gear extended cockpit indication. During a subsequent landing, the nose landing gear collapsed and the airplane slid to a stop on the runway. Examination of the airplane revealed that the right side of the nose landing gear aft drag brace had separated. Metallurgical examination revealed that the origin point of the fracture was consistent with overstress, and the fracture extended from the origin point over a significant period of time. The airplane had accumulated over 10,000 hours of flight time, and the initiation of the overstress event was most likely the result of a previous hard landing or landings. Review of the maintenance manual for the make and model airplane revealed that the nose gear was an "on condition" inspection item; however, the fracture was in an area that would not be easily visible or detected by a mechanic during an inspection.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The overstress failure of the nose landing gear aft drag brace.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 12/10/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1205 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Lexington |
| Event State | KENTUCKY |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 40510 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 380211N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0843621W |
| Event Location Airport | Blue Grass Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | LEX |
| 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 | 979 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1154 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LEX |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 979 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3400 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 1700 |
| 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) | 9 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -5 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 250 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 18 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 25 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.09 |
| 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) | 26763 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Southern ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 26 2010 11:47AM |
| User who most recently changed record | guzj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N391MC |
| NTSB Number | ERA10IA095 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Minor |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | BEECH |
| Aircraft Model | 58 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | TH-756 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5400 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 9 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 20 |
| Airframe Hours | 10437 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | AIR LEXINGTON INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4144 AVIATOR RD STE 5B |
| Aircraft Owner City | LEXINGTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | KY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 40510-9686 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | AIR LEXINGTON INC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 4144 AVIATOR RD STE 5B |
| Operator City | LEXINGTON |
| Operator State | KY |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 40510-9686 |
| Operator Code | OQOA |
| 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 | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | LEX |
| Departure City | Lexington |
| Departure State | KY |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1020 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | LEX |
| Destination City | Lexington |
| Destination State | KY |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 6 2010 10:33AM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 22 |
| Runway Length | 7003 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |