Rogers RUTAN DEFIANT 40 N23TR

Summary

On 29 April 2010 at about 00:40 local time, a Rogers RUTAN DEFIANT 40 registered N23TR was involved in an accident near Phoenix, Arizona, 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

29 April 2010 at 00:40

Classification

Accident

Location

Phoenix, Arizona, United States

Nearest airport

Phoenix Deer Valley (DVT)

Coordinates

33.6883, -112.0825

Aircraft

Rogers RUTAN DEFIANT 40

Registration

N23TR

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Ontario → Phoenix

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR10LA219

Nobody was injured.

The failure of the pilot to ensure that the landing gear extension handle was firmly placed in the down position prior to landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that while on base leg he initiated a landing check and lowered the nose landing gear. Following initial touchdown and immediately upon placing weight on the nose gear, the nose of the airplane settled to the ground and the nose gear handle quickly popped out of the down position. During a postaccident examination of the airplane, a Federal Aviation Administration airworthiness inspector reported that the nose gear may not have been "positively" down and locked as witnessed by the alignment/witness marks. The inspector stated that when placing the gear handle down, but not “hard,” the gear indication could appear to be down and locked, but the gear could actually not be in the down and locked position. The inspector added that during the examination the gear system was operated several times. Each time if the gear handle was not placed down “firmly and hard” the alignment marks were not indicating a “SAFE” condition. The pilot further added that the mechanical alignment arrows are down by the right ankle of the pilot. In this location, an arrow misalignment is extremely difficult to perceive and the nose gear could easily be placed in "transition" vice down and locked. The pilot reported that he has since redesigned the nose gear down-and-locked indicator to be more easily viewed.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.