Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Phoenix Deer Valley Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Phoenix, Arizona 85027
Wednesday, April 28, 2010 17:40 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that while on base leg he initiated a landing check and lowered the nose landing gear. Following initial touchdown and immediately upon placing weight on the nose gear, the nose of the airplane settled to the ground and the nose gear handle quickly popped out of the down position. During a postaccident examination of the airplane, a Federal Aviation Administration airworthiness inspector reported that the nose gear may not have been "positively" down and locked as witnessed by the alignment/witness marks. The inspector stated that when placing the gear handle down, but not “hard,” the gear indication could appear to be down and locked, but the gear could actually not be in the down and locked position. The inspector added that during the examination the gear system was operated several times. Each time if the gear handle was not placed down “firmly and hard” the alignment marks were not indicating a “SAFE” condition. The pilot further added that the mechanical alignment arrows are down by the right ankle of the pilot. In this location, an arrow misalignment is extremely difficult to perceive and the nose gear could easily be placed in "transition" vice down and locked. The pilot reported that he has since redesigned the nose gear down-and-locked indicator to be more easily viewed.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the pilot to ensure that the landing gear extension handle was firmly placed in the down position prior to landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/28/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1740 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Phoenix |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85027 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 334118N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1120457W |
| Event Location Airport | Phoenix Deer Valley |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | DVT |
| 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 | 1478 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | 1753 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DVT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1478 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| 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) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 240 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 18 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 29 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.64 |
| 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) | 27531 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Regional Operation Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 21 2010 4:51PM |
| User who most recently changed record | lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N23TR |
| NTSB Number | WPR10LA219 |
| 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 | -- |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Rogers |
| Aircraft Model | Rutan Defiant 40 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 7 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3300 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | -- |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 4 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 788 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Sierra Vista Ventures LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Fresno |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 93730 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Steven M McShea |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Clovis |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 93619 |
| 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 | ONT |
| Departure City | Ontario |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1605 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | DVT |
| Destination City | Phoenix |
| Destination State | AZ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 28 2010 6:13PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 25L |
| Runway Length | 4508 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |