Beechcraft 58 N458P

Summary

On 7 February 2013 at about 16:05 local time, a Beechcraft 58 registered N458P was involved in an accident near Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. 3 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

7 February 2013 at 16:05

Classification

Accident

Location

Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States

Nearest airport

Smith Reynolds Airport (INT)

Coordinates

36.1336, -80.2219

Aircraft

Beechcraft 58

Registration

N458P

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Hamilton → Winston Salem

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA13LA129

Nobody was injured.

The failure of the left main landing gear to fully extend due to improper rigging by maintenance personnel during a maintenance check.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

While performing an instrument landing system approach, the pilot lowered the landing gear and confirmed that it was extended by observing the cockpit gear indication. Immediately after landing, the left main landing gear collapsed, and the airplane veered to the left. After departing the side of the runway, the airplane struck a taxiway sign, which resulted in substantial damage to the left wing. Examination of the main gear rigging showed that the emergency gear handle was able to rotate one full turn before hitting the internal stops. However, the Beech Aircraft Maintenance Manual states that there should only be 1/8- to 1/4-turn between the gear handle extended position and the internal stop during rigging checks. According to the manual, there are no down-position locks and, therefore, over-center tension is the only down-locking system. Therefore, the improper rigging of the landing gear during a maintenance check did not provide adequate down tension and prevented the landing gear from fully extending.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.