- Date
- October 31, 1984, 22:10 local (Nov 1, 1984, 03:10 UTC)
- Place
- Charlotte, NC
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N90609Smith, Ted Aerostar Aerostar 600A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19841101059439A
- Case key
- 6699
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Nose gear collapsed
Landing gear,nose gear assembly - jammedCause
Gear down and locked - not attained
Landing gear,steering system - fatigueCause
Maintenance,inspection - inadequateCause
On ground/water encounter with terrain/water
Analysis
During final approach the pilot was unable to lower the nose gear therefore he landed with the nose gear retracted. Post crash examination revealed that the nose steering actuating bolt was fractured. The facture surfaces exhibited signatures of a progressive fatigue failure.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N90609
- Reported as
- Smith, Ted Aerostar Aerostar 600A (AEROSTAR 6)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 600320118
- Airframe hours
- 3,897
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-540-K1F5, 290 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 135
- Operator
- Top Flight Air Service
- Registered owner
- David K. Davoudlarian
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · October 15, 1984 · 71 hours before
- Departed
- JAX · Jacksonville, FL
- Destination
- CHI · Charlotte, NC
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- CLT · Douglas International, runway 36R, 7,845 × 150 ft, asphalt
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 35
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 2,613 total · 350 in this make and model · 2,421 as pilot in command · 250 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 6 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.