Yakovlev YAK-52 N76YK

Summary

On 14 June 2012 at about 20:50 local time, a Yakovlev YAK-52 registered N76YK was involved in an accident near Loveland, Colorado, 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

14 June 2012 at 20:50

Classification

Accident

Location

Loveland, Colorado, United States

Nearest airport

Ft. Collins-Loveland Municipal (KFNL)

Coordinates

40.4519, -105.0114

Aircraft

Yakovlev YAK-52

Registration

N76YK

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Greeley → Loveland

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN12LA374

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s inadvertent closure of the pneumatic system valve, which resulted in the nose landing gear not fully extending before landing. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's reliance on the mechanical landing gear position indicators instead of the cockpit indicator lights to verify landing gear extension.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that the nose landing gear collapsed shortly after touchdown. The airplane came to rest nose down on the runway and a fuel-fed fire in the engine compartment ensued. Postaccident examination revealed that the pneumatic system valve, which should remain open for all operations, was in the closed position. This resulted in less pressure in the system than was needed to fully extend the nose landing gear before landing. When the pneumatic system valve was subsequently opened, the nose landing gear deployed rapidly into the down-and-locked position. The nose landing gear system components appeared to be undamaged. The pilot reported that earlier in the day he had opened the pneumatic valve and surmised that he must have inadvertently closed the pneumatic system valve before departing on the accident flight. The pilot reported that before landing he verified the position of the landing gear by referencing the mechanical barber-pole indicators, which suggested the landing gear was fully extended. However, the mechanical barber-pole indicators, which are located forward of the windscreen and in the pilot's sightline, should not be used as the primary indication of the landing gear position. The mechanical indicators are intended to be used in conjunction with the landing gear position indicator lights in the cockpit to ensure the landing gear is fully extended.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.