Beechcraft E-55 N855T

Summary

On 24 August 2016 at about 23:30 local time, a Beechcraft E-55 registered N855T, operated by Cobra KAI Inc, was involved in an accident near Wichita Falls, Texas, United States. 2 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

24 August 2016 at 23:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Wichita Falls, Texas, United States

Nearest airport

Sheppard Air Force Base/Wichit (SPS)

Coordinates

33.9889, -98.4919

Aircraft

Beechcraft E-55

Registration

N855T

Category

Airplane

Year built

1973

Engines

2

Operator

Cobra KAI Inc

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Wichita Falls → Wichita Falls

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN16LA336

Nobody was injured.

The failure of the landing gear assembly snap ring, which prevented the pilot from being able to extend the landing gear and resulted in a gear-up landing. Also causal was the lack of the assembly's overhaul in accordance with the airplane maintenance manual.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight instructor stated that, after the landing gear handle was placed in the gear-down position, he and the student pilot noticed electrical smoke and fumes but no fire. Although they restored electrical power, they were unable to fully extend the landing gear, which resulted in a gear-up landing. Postaccident examination of the main landing gear retraction actuator assembly revealed a broken snap ring within the manual crank extension housing, which allowed the actuator worm gear to reposition itself beyond the actuator worm sector travel limits. A review of the airplane's maintenance records found no record showing that the landing gear actuator assembly had been repaired/overhauled in accordance with the airplane maintenance manual. According to the maintenance manual, the actuator assembly is to be overhauled or replaced every 2,000 hours for gray- or green-colored assemblies. The assembly that was examined was green. The airplane had a total time of 6,184.5 hours. Given the condition of the landing gear actuator assembly, the operator should have been overhauled or replaced the actuator assembly in accordance with the manual.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.