Half Moon Bay Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Half Moon Bay, California 94019
Monday, March 22, 2010 14:30 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

Prior to landing the pilot observed 3 green lights indicating that the landing gear was down and locked. During the landing roll the left main landing gear collapsed, which resulted in substantial damage to the left wing and aileron. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector reported that a postaccident examination of the left main landing gear's pneumatic actuator revealed that the actuator's down-lock ball track was contaminated with dirt and that the steel down-lock balls were corroded. The combination of dirt in the actuator's down-lock track, the corroded down-lock balls, and the low down-lock pressure likely caused the gear to collapse.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The failure of left main landing gear actuator to lock in the down position due to low down-lock pressure as a result of a contaminated down-lock track and corroded down-lock balls.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 3/22/2010
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1430
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Half Moon Bay
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 94019
Event Date Year 2010
Event Date Month 3
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 373049N
Event Location Longitude 1223004W
Event Location Airport Half Moon Bay
Event Location Nearest Airport ID HAF
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 67
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1435 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID HAF
Elevation of weather observation facility 66
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
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) 6
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 14
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 9
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 330
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 15
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 21
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 27012
NTSB Notification Source Regional Operations Center
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Jun 7 2010 7:56PM
User who most recently changed record stam
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N153U
NTSB Number WPR10LA173
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Williams Yakovlev
Aircraft Model YAK 3UPW
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 005
Certified Max Gross Weight 6143
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 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Mar 1 2010 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 21
Airframe Hours 21
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name Yak Aviation LLC
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Half Moon Bay
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 94019
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name James A Williams
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Half Moon Bay
Operator State CA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 94019
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 HAF
Departure City Half Moon Bay
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1410
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code HAF
Destination City Half Moon Bay
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jun 7 2010 7:57PM
User who most recently changed record stam
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 30
Runway Length 5000
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --