Space Coast Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Titusville, Florida 32780
Wednesday, August 1, 2012 17:15 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The flight instructor was conducting practice instrument landing system approaches during an instructional flight when he observed that the nose landing gear indicator light did not indicate down and locked. He observed that the nose gear was extended and he cycled the landing gear without any changes to the nose gear indicator light. During a subsequent landing attempt, the airplane initially touched down on the main landing gear; however, as the nose landing gear touched down, it began to collapse. The airplane came to rest about 2,500 feet from the approach end of the runway, and sustained substantial damage to the fuselage around the nose gear. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the nose landing gear eccentric bushing, which engaged the downlock hook, was out of adjustment. In addition, a check of the hydraulic system fluid reservoir dipstick revealed that the fluid level was below the amount that could be observed on the dipstick. After the hydraulic system fluid reservoir was properly serviced and the eccentric bushing adjusted, the landing gear functioned normally. The airplane had been operated for about 10 hours since its most recent 100-hour inspection, which was performed about 12 days earlier. The accident flight was the airplane's first flight after it was released from maintenance, which included a landing gear inspection and operational check.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Inadequate maintenance servicing and inspection of the nose landing gear, which resulted in the failure of the nose landing gear to lock and its subsequent collapse during landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/1/2012
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1715
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Titusville
Event State FLORIDA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 32780
Event Date Year 2012
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 283053N
Event Location Longitude 0804757W
Event Location Airport Space Coast Regional
Event Location Nearest Airport ID TIX
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 34
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1647 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID TIX
Elevation of weather observation facility 34
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 3000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions --
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 7
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 27
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 21
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 270
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 6
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.98
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 3
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 31640
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 Jul 24 2013 1:44PM
User who most recently changed record johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N740FT
NTSB Number ERA12LA494
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 PIPER
Aircraft Model PA-44-180
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 44-7995084
Certified Max Gross Weight 3816
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 4
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Jul 20 2012 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 10
Airframe Hours 9200
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name 30 WEST LLC
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Kissimmee
Aircraft Owner State FL
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 34741-4666
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Space Coast Aviation
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 900 Airport Road
Operator City Merritt Island
Operator State FL
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 32952
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) Instructional
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code COI
Departure City Merritt Island
Departure State FL
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1600
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code TIX
Destination City Titusville
Destination State FL
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jun 26 2013 9:51AM
User who most recently changed record kenj
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location 36
Runway Length 7319
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --