# NTSB ANC03LA012: Curtiss-Wright CW-46, N54514, Fairbanks, AK, October 29, 2002 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report - Date: October 29, 2002, 12:30 local (16:30 UTC) - Place: Fairbanks, AK - Coordinates: 64.814163, -147.858612 - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=64.8142&lon=-147.8586&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Taxi](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/250) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Highest injury: No injuries - Injuries: 3 uninjured - Status: Completed, report April 18, 2003 - Report: Approved by Office Director - NTSB office: Alaska Regional Office - Parties: Fairbanks FSDO-01 - NTSB case key (mKey): 56004 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=ANC03LA012 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/56004/pdf - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ANC03LA012 ## Probable cause The failure of the right main landing gear locking device to engage, which allowed the right main landing gear to collapse during taxi from landing. ## Sequence of events In NTSB's coding before 2008 (https://www.ntsb.gov/GILS/Documents/codman.pdf). - Gear collapsed, taxi - from landing - landing gear,gear locking mechanism - not engaged (cause) ## Analysis 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. ## Factual narrative 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. ## Aircraft - Registration: [N54514](https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N54514), registered now, S/N 33285, built 1944 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: Curtiss-Wright CW-46 - Registry model: [Curtiss Wright C-46D](https://openairdocs.org/model/curtiss-wright-c-46d) (registry code 2622604) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Pratt & Whitney R-2800 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/pratt-whitney-r-2800-series) (registry code 52026, reciprocating) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane - Serial number: 33285 - Airframe hours: 15264 - Engines: Pratt & Whitney R2800 51M1 2000 horsepower reciprocating - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Flight test, Part 91 - Registered owner: Tatonduk Outfitters Ltd - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal - Last inspection: Continuous airworthiness, October 29, 2002, 1 hours before - Departed: PAFA, Fairbanks, AK - Airport: PAFA, Fairbanks International, runway 01L, 11,800 × 150 ft, asphalt ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 56; injuries: none; flight engineer, airline transport, commercial; airplane ratings: single-engine land, multi-engine land; instrument ratings: airplane; medical: class 1, valid medical--w/ waivers/lim; last flight review October 26, 2002; seat: left; flight hours: 20,000 total, 4,000 in this make and model, 20,000 as pilot in command, 99 in the last 90 days, 13 in the last 30 days, 1 in the last 24 hours - Co-pilot; age 25; injuries: none; commercial; airplane ratings: multi-engine land, single-engine sea, single-engine land; instrument ratings: airplane; medical: class 2, valid medical--w/ waivers/lim; last flight review June 28, 2002; seat: right; flight hours: 1,200 total, 400 in this make and model, 300 as pilot in command, 122 in the last 90 days, 44 in the last 30 days ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day - Wind: 50° at 3 knots - Visibility: 10 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: 20,000 ft overcast - Temperature: 37 °F, dew point 30 °F - Altimeter: 29.76 inHg - Observed at: PAFA ## FAA reports on this event (1) The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 20021029029959A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20021029029959A), Oct 29, 2002: Curtis C46DFLYTIGER, Fairbanks, AK, Substantial damage. (-23) Aircraft right main landing gear collapsed during rollout after landing. Aircraft had progressed approximately 2000 feet after touchdown and was… From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- 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.