Gulfstream G-IV N209LS

Summary

On 11 November 2007 at about 16:21 local time, a Gulfstream G-IV registered N209LS, operated by AVN Air LLC, was involved in an accident near Sugar Land, Texas, United States. 8 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

11 November 2007 at 16:21

Classification

Accident

Location

Sugar Land, Texas, United States

Nearest airport

Sugar Land Regional Airport (KSGR)

Coordinates

29.6331, -95.6556

Aircraft

Gulfstream G-IV

Registration

N209LS

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

AVN Air LLC

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Business

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Baton Rouge → Sugar Land

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

NTSB number

DFW08LA030

Nobody was injured.

The collapsed of the nose landing gear due to shimmy as the result of the improper installation of the nose landing gear upper torque arm pin by the flight crew during the preflight inspection of the aircraft.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that the flight, approach to landing and touchdown were uneventful. Soon after touchdown, when the nose landing gear touched down, the ground spoilers deployed automatically and the thrust reversers were deployed. The pilot then stated: " When the nose wheels touched down, a violent vibration or shaking was felt, full back force was applied to the control yoke and the vibration eased until the aircraft slowed further and the vibration returned. The nose landing gear collapsed to the right side of the nose and the aircraft skidded to a stop." Damage was confirmed to a forward pressure vessel. Both nose landing gear tires remained inflated through the collapse. The nose gear assembly was shipped to Gulfstream facilities for further examination and analysis. The cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and flight data recorder (FDR) were recovered following the accident. No significant information concerning the event was obtained from the CVR. The data from the FDR indicated that the landing touchdown was not heavy or with excessive drift. The data also indicated that the deceleration of the aircraft increased within seconds of the touchdown consistent with spoiler and thrust reverser deployment. Examination of the nose landing gear revealed that the nose landing collapsed and separation were the result of nose landing gear shimmy. The shimmy developed when the torque link connection to the nose wheel steering/damper unit separated as the result of the improper installation of the nose landing gear upper torque arm pin by the flight crew during the last preflight inspection of the aircraft.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.