# Incident 19970108005339I: Amd FALCON20C5, El Paso, TX, January 8, 1997

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: January 8, 1997, 11:20 local time
- Place: El Paso, TX
- Airport: El Paso International
- Damage: Minor damage
- Phase of flight: Level Off Touchdown
- Operating rules: Air taxi and commuter (Part 135)
- Operator: DKAA
- Location: 31.8073° N, 106.3764° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs at EL PASO INTL (ELP), within about a mile (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=31.8073&lon=-106.3764&mi=10
- Aircraft: N980R (not matched to a registry record)
- Reported make and model: AMD FALCON20C5
- Reported engine: GE CF700*
- People aboard: 2
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Pilot flight hours: 8,800 total, 5,000 in this make and model, 200 in the last 90 days
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/19970108005339I

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

NARRATIVE: ON JANUARY 8, 1997, AN INCIDENT OCCURRED AT THE EL PASO, TEXAS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT WHEN N980R, A FALCON AMD-F20, DEPARTED THE LEFT SIDE OF RUNWAY 26L AFTER THE LEFT MAIN LANDING GEAR FAILED TO EXTEND. FOLLOW-ON INVESTIGATION FOUND THE LEFT MAIN GEAR DOOR, FORWARD UPLOCK FAILED TO RELEASE DURING NORMAL AND EMERGENCY EXTENSION ATTEMPTS. FURTHER INVESTIGATION FOUND SEVERAL PROBABLE CAUSES FOR THE MALFUNCTION: 1.	THE MAIN LANDING GEAR ACTUATOR SEQUENCE SWITCH, P/N 14 	G-1, FAILED IN THE CLOSED POSITION ALLOWING THE MAIN 	LANDING GEAR (MLG) TO UNLOCK PRIOR TO THE MAIN LANDING 	GEAR DOOR UNLOCKING. 2.	THE MAIN GEAR DOOR UPLOCK, P/N VTS 442V, INTERCONNECTED 	TO THE MAIN LANDING GEAR UPLOCK VIA PUSH/PULL LINKAGE. 	THE DOOR UPLOCK HAS A SHAFT (PIN, SAFETY LOCK), P/N 	MY20248-001, THAT WAS DISTORTED AND WOULD NOT 	OPERATE OVER ITS INTENDED RANGE OF MOTION. 	THE SHAFT DISTORTION MAY HAVE OCCURRED WHEN THE MLG 	CONTACTED THE GEAR DOOR. DUE TO THE DISTORTION AND A 	FAILED SAFETY SWITCH, THE LEFT MAIN LANDING GEAR 	UNLOCKED PRIOR TO THE GEAR DOOR, ALLOWING THE MAIN 	LANDING TO REST ON THE GEAR DOOR. THE ADDED WEIGHT OF 	THE LANDING GEAR DOOR WOULD NOT ALLOW THE EMERGENCY 	EXTENSION

From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record.

---
OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.