Beechcraft K35 N44DB

Summary

On 30 July 2021 at about 14:40 local time, a Beechcraft K35 registered N44DB was involved in an accident near Readington, New Jersey, 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

30 July 2021 at 14:40

Classification

Accident

Location

Readington, New Jersey, United States

Nearest airport

Solberg-Hunterdon (N51)

Coordinates

40.5827, -74.7367

Aircraft

Beechcraft K35

Registration

N44DB

Category

Airplane

Year built

1959

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Smithfield → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA21LA312

Nobody was injured.

The failure of the forward end of the landing gear actuator rod.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

On the base leg of the traffic pattern, the pilot lowered the landing gear and the green landing gear indicator light illuminated. During the subsequent landing, the main gear touched down, and “the nose came down like normal but kept going down with a sudden bang.” The airplane slid off the runway, came to rest in the grass, and sustained substantial damage to the forward lower fuselage. Examination of the airplane revealed that forward end of the landing gear actuator rod was fractured. The failure resulted in insufficient tension to keep the over-center down lock assembly in place.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.