Beechcraft B-99 N950AA

Summary

On 19 May 2007 at about 10:00 local time, a Beechcraft B-99 registered N950AA was involved in an accident near Billings, Montana, United States. One person was 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

19 May 2007 at 10:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Billings, Montana, United States

Nearest airport

Billings Logan Intern Arpt (BIL)

Coordinates

45.8078, -108.5428

Aircraft

Beechcraft B-99

Registration

N950AA

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Billings → Kalispell

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

SEA07LA133

Nobody was injured.

The total failure of the nose landing gear actuator and the subsequent nose gear collapse during landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that about 40 nautical miles into the flight, he heard a "clunk" and the red unsafe light in the gear handle came on. He verified that all systems were functioning normally, and he cycled the landing gear up and down to see if that would solve the problem. The unsafe light remained illuminated. The pilot returned to the departure airport and circled for several hours to burn his fuel load down. He said that at one point he flew low over the runway so the company mechanic, with the aid of a light from an airport vehicle, could visually check the nose gear position. It was hanging out of the wheel well at approximately a 45-degree angle. Upon landing, the airplane settled to its nose during landing rollout. Examination of the airplane revealed that the nose gear actuator mount bracket area was bent and wrinkled. The nose gear actuator shaft had fractured just above the clevis bolt, which attaches to the drag brace. The failed actuator had been installed on July 26, 2006. The Beech B-99 maintenance manual states that the hydraulic actuator needs to be overhauled or replaced every 10,000 hours; maintenance records indicate that this one had 231.4 hours on it at the time of the accident. Metallurgist examined the failed actuator and concluded that all of the fractures were overstress, and no preexisting fatigue signatures were evident. The airframe had accumulated 34,613.2 hours of flying time, at the time of the accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.