Pilot Debrief

CESSNA T210L near Pflugerville, TX — 2016-10-18

Final reportCEN17LA022
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Date
2016-10-18
Location
Pflugerville, TX, USA
Airport
EDC
Aircraft
CESSNA T210L
Registration
N210LC
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
None
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Landing

Probable cause

Landing gear collapse upon landing due to a hydraulic leak that led to insufficient pressure to fully extend and lock the gear in a down position.

NTSB narrative

As the private pilot approached his destination airport for landing, he lowered the landing gear handle but did not have a down-and-locked indication in the cockpit. He used the emergency gear extension handle to lower the gear; however, he felt no resistance on the emergency gear handle. After checking the wing-mounted landing gear mirrors, it appeared that the landing gear was extended. The pilot circled and landed. Upon landing, the right main landing gear collapsed, and the airplane skidded off the runway to the right, which resulted in substantial damage to the right horizontal stabilizer and elevator. Postaccident examination of the landing gear system revealed a leak near the hydraulic pump, and no resistance was felt on the pump handle. Due to the leak, it is likely that there was not enough hydraulic pressure to extend and lock the landing gear in the down position when the pilot attempted to lower the gear, which is consistent with the pilot not feeling any resistance on the emergency landing gear handle in flight. A review of recent maintenance records for the airplane did not reveal any previous landing gear anomalies.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Mechanical failure
First missed decision gate
Pilot could have aborted landing due to gear indication issues.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • 2 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents2

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