Beechcraft A200 N200NG

Summary

On 9 October 2002 at about 19:18 local time, a Beechcraft A200 registered N200NG was involved in an accident near Cleveland, Ohio, United States. 4 people were on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

9 October 2002 at 19:18

Classification

Accident

Location

Cleveland, Ohio, United States

Nearest airport

Burk Lakefront (BKL)

Coordinates

41.5175, -81.6833

Aircraft

Beechcraft A200

Registration

N200NG

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Public Use

Purpose of flight

Public Use

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Cleveland → Jacksonville

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

IAD03TA003

1 person had minor injuries.

Inadequate operating clearance between the ring gear and pinion gear during the manufacturing process resulting in the failure of the landing gear actuator gear ring.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

After takeoff, the right main landing gear would not retract. The crew attempted to troubleshoot the malfunction and tried to hand-pump the landing gear down, but were not successful. The captain made a landing to test the landing gear, but when it wouldn't hold, he aborted the landing. The captain made a subsequent landing and shut down the engines. As the airplane decelerated through 80 knots, the right main landing gear collapsed. After the accident, the airplane was placed on jacks, and when the gear handle was placed in either the up or down position, the landing gear motor rotated the torque tubes out to both main landing gear actuators, but the right main landing gear would not extend or retract. The right main landing gear actuator was forwarded to the airplane manufacturer for further examination. According to a company metallurgist's report, there was a fracture of the actuator housing inboard pivot hub flange, and a fracture through the shaft section of the pinion gear. Examination of internal components revealed fractures to most of the ring gear teeth, and a segment of metal was separated from a pinion gear tooth. Microscopic examination of ring gear fracture surfaces revealed arrest lines, "representative of progressive fracture." Metalographic examination of a polished and etched cross section of gear tooth revealed crack arrest lines, "again indicating cyclic progression of crack growth." Microscopic examination of ring gear tooth profile surfaces revealed "excessive polishing of the tooth faces, together with rounding of the tooth corners...typically representative of high tooth loads created by inadequate operating clearance between the ring gear and pinion gear."

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.