- Date
- March 6, 1991, 12:15 local (18:15 UTC)
- Place
- St. Louis, MO
- Injuries
- 5 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N401RWCessna 401
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 25, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910306006929A
- Case key
- 15020
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The landing gear locking mechanism (bell crank) had fractured.
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.
Analysis
The pilot said that during the landing roll out, the aircraft began to swerve to the left. He applied corrective measures but the left wing continued to drop and contacted the terrain proir to the aircraft being stopped. Post accident investigation revealed a broken bell crank assembly in the landing gear, which allowed the premature retraction.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N401RW
- Reported as
- Cessna 401
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 401-118
- Engine
- Continental TSIO-520-E, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 135
- Operator
- Redwing Airways, Inc.
- Departed
- IRK · Kirksville, MO
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- STL · Lambert, runway 24, 7,602 × 150 ft, concrete
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 48
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 3,743 total · 150 in this make and model · 3,467 as pilot in command · 85 in the last 90 days · 31 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 310° at 18 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 2,400 ft broken
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
- Observed at
- STL, 1 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.