ANC03LA012

The pilot reported that he had just completed a maintenance test flight following an engine overhaul, and was taxiing to parking when the right main landing gear collapsed. He said prior to landing, he had an amber gear warning light that meant one of the two locking devices on the right main landing gear was not engaged. A red light would indicate that neither locking device was engaged. The company's procedure allows the pilot to land with an amber light after attempting to ascertain that the gear is down and locked. The pilot said the landing was uneventful, but while taxiing to parking, the right main landing gear slowly collapsed, damaging the right wing.

On October 29, 2002, about 1230 Alaska standard time, a Curtiss-Wright CW-46 airplane, N54514, sustained substantial damage during taxi after landing when its right main landing gear collapsed at the Fairbanks International Airport, Fairbanks, Alaska. The airplane was being operated by Everts Air Cargo, Fairbanks, as a visual flight rules (VFR) local maintenance test flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91, when the accident occurred. Neither the two pilots, nor the sole passenger, were injured.

During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC) on October 30, the director of operations for the operator said the airplane was being test flown due to the replacement of the right (number 2) engine. He said the first pilot reported that after landing, as the airplane turned left to exit the runway, the right main landing gear slowly collapsed. The first pilot said that before landing, the right main landing gear indicator light was amber, which indicates that only one of two gear-down locking devices was engaged. A red light would indicate that neither locking device was engaged. He said according to the operator's manual, landing with an amber light is an approved procedure after the pilot attempts to asertain that the landing gear is down and locked.

The director of operations said the airplane had just undergone a major overhaul, and that there were no known mechanical anomalies with the airplane prior to the accident. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing during the accident.