Ft. Collins-Loveland Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Loveland, Colorado 80538
Thursday, June 14, 2012 14:50 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot reported that the nose landing gear collapsed shortly after touchdown. The airplane came to rest nose down on the runway and a fuel-fed fire in the engine compartment ensued. Postaccident examination revealed that the pneumatic system valve, which should remain open for all operations, was in the closed position. This resulted in less pressure in the system than was needed to fully extend the nose landing gear before landing. When the pneumatic system valve was subsequently opened, the nose landing gear deployed rapidly into the down-and-locked position. The nose landing gear system components appeared to be undamaged. The pilot reported that earlier in the day he had opened the pneumatic valve and surmised that he must have inadvertently closed the pneumatic system valve before departing on the accident flight. The pilot reported that before landing he verified the position of the landing gear by referencing the mechanical barber-pole indicators, which suggested the landing gear was fully extended. However, the mechanical barber-pole indicators, which are located forward of the windscreen and in the pilot's sightline, should not be used as the primary indication of the landing gear position. The mechanical indicators are intended to be used in conjunction with the landing gear position indicator lights in the cockpit to ensure the landing gear is fully extended.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot’s inadvertent closure of the pneumatic system valve, which resulted in the nose landing gear not fully extending before landing. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's reliance on the mechanical landing gear position indicators instead of the cockpit indicator lights to verify landing gear extension.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/14/2012
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1450
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City Loveland
Event State COLORADO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 80538
Event Date Year 2012
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 402707N
Event Location Longitude 1050041W
Event Location Airport Ft. Collins-Loveland Municipal
Event Location Nearest Airport ID KFNL
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 5016
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1455 Mountain Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID KFNL
Elevation of weather observation facility 5016
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation MDT
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) 29
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 6
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 80
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 10
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 17
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.95
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report METAR KFNL 142055Z AUTO 08010G17KT 040V140 10SM CL
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) 30103
NTSB Notification Source FAA, Denver FSDO
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Jul 6 2012 3:30PM
User who most recently changed record bowl
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N76YK
NTSB Number CEN12LA374
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 Ground
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Yakovlev
Aircraft Model Yak-52
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 855706
Certified Max Gross Weight 2851
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 1
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Oct 20 2011 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 1435
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name Ronald James Stark
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Windsor
Aircraft Owner State CO
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 80550
Operator is an individual? Yes
Operator Name Ronald James Stark
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Windsor
Operator State CO
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 80550
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 KGXY
Departure City Greeley
Departure State CO
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1435
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code KFNL
Destination City Loveland
Destination State CO
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jun 28 2012 6:47PM
User who most recently changed record foxt
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location 15
Runway Length 8500
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --