Pilot Debrief

BEECH E-55 near Wichita Falls, TX — 2016-08-24

Final reportCEN16LA336
Sign in to save
Date
2016-08-24
Location
Wichita Falls, TX, USA
Airport
SPS
Aircraft
BEECH E-55
Registration
N855T
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
None
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Approach

Probable cause

The failure of the landing gear assembly snap ring, which prevented the pilot from being able to extend the landing gear and resulted in a gear-up landing. Also causal was the lack of the assembly's overhaul in accordance with the airplane maintenance manual.

NTSB narrative

The flight instructor stated that, after the landing gear handle was placed in the gear-down position, he and the student pilot noticed electrical smoke and fumes but no fire. Although they restored electrical power, they were unable to fully extend the landing gear, which resulted in a gear-up landing. Postaccident examination of the main landing gear retraction actuator assembly revealed a broken snap ring within the manual crank extension housing, which allowed the actuator worm gear to reposition itself beyond the actuator worm sector travel limits. A review of the airplane's maintenance records found no record showing that the landing gear actuator assembly had been repaired/overhauled in accordance with the airplane maintenance manual. According to the maintenance manual, the actuator assembly is to be overhauled or replaced every 2,000 hours for gray- or green-colored assemblies. The assembly that was examined was green. The airplane had a total time of 6,184.5 hours. Given the condition of the landing gear actuator assembly, the operator should have been overhauled or replaced the actuator assembly in accordance with the manual.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Mechanical failure
First missed decision gate
Performing maintenance checks on the landing gear actuator assembly as required.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • Photos
  • 4 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents4

Related mishaps