Swearingen SA226TC N229AM

Summary

On 16 April 2003 at about 02:41 local time, a Swearingen SA226TC registered N229AM was involved in an accident near Denver, Colorado, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

16 April 2003 at 02:41

Classification

Accident

Location

Denver, Colorado, United States

Nearest airport

Denver International (DEN)

Coordinates

39.8583, -104.6669

Aircraft

Swearingen SA226TC

Registration

N229AM

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Gunnison → Denver

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

DEN03LA076

Nobody was injured.

The failure of the landing gear system and the flight crew's failure to ascertain that the landing gear was down and locked. A contributing factor was the inadequate maintenance inspections performed by maintenance personnel.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight was following a heavy jet on landing approach. The crew agreed to fly the approach at a slightly higher altitude than normal to avoid any possible wake turbulence. The first officer, who was flying the airplane, called for the landing gear to be lowered. When the captain placed the gear handle in the DOWN position, he noted red IN-TRANSIT lights. He recycled the landing gear, but got the same result. He consulted the emergency checklist and thought he had manually extended the landing gear because he "heard the normal 'clunk feel' and airspeed started to decay." In addition, when power was reduced to FLIGHT IDLE, the GEAR UNSAFE warning horn did not sound. The first officer agreed, noting 2,000 pounds of hydraulic pressure. The airplane landed wheels up. Propeller blade fragments penetrated the fuselage, breaching the pressure vessel. Postaccident examination revealed the nose gear had been partially extended but the main landing gear was retracted. The crew said the GEAR UNSAFE indication had been a recurring problem with the airplane. The problem had previously been attributed to a frozen squat switch in the wheel well.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.