Pilot Debrief

Beech F90 near Knoxville, TN — 2020-05-18

Final reportERA20LA192
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Date
2020-05-18
Location
Knoxville, TN, USA
Airport
TYS
Aircraft
Beech F90
Registration
N960V
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
None
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Initial climb

Probable cause

A failure of the left main landing gear scissors, which resulted in a landing gear collapse following a precautionary landing with the landing gear in an intermediate position..

NTSB narrative

Shortly after takeoff, the pilot moved the landing gear handle to the retract position, and the red “gear unsafe” light illuminated. The pilot conducted a low-altitude approach so that the tower controller could visually confirm the condition of the landing gear; the tower controller reported that the nose landing gear appeared “slanted.” The pilot then performed the unsafe gear checklist and attempted to manually lower the landing gear, but the red gear unsafe light remained illuminated. During a subsequent low-altitude approach, the controller indicated that the main gear appeared down but that the nose gear did not appear to be fully down and locked. The pilot performed a precautionary landing, and, shortly after touchdown, the main and nose landing gear collapsed, and the airplane skidded to a stop. Examination of the left main landing gear revealed that the landing gear scissors had fractured at the bolt attachment area and that the landing gear was twisted sideways and jammed against the main gear doors. The landing gear circuit breaker that controlled the landing gear motor had popped. The airplane manufacturer’s landing gear manual extension procedure required the emergency gear selector handle to be in the STOP detent. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the handle was not placed in the STOP detent; however, it could not be determined, from the available evidence for this investigation, if the landing gear manual extension procedure could have been successfully accomplished with the landing gear system failure that occurred during the accident flight.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Mechanical failure
First missed decision gate
Pilot could have opted for a return to the airport before takeoff.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • Video
  • Photos
  • 8 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents8

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