- Date
- September 20, 1991, 14:45 local (19:45 UTC)
- Place
- Sugar Grove, IL
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N300RACessna 310J
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 31, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910920048199A
- Case key
- 15172
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 buckled nose landing gear retraction/extension gear drive tube. A factor in the accident was the pilot in command not having the landing gear inspected at the interval recommended by the manufacturer.
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
A commercial pilot selected gear down for a practice landing, and the nose gear did not extend. The pilot elected to land on the main gear and shutdown engines on final approach. The airplane landed hard, and the nose fell to the pavement. The propellers struck pavement at flight pitch. A gear drive tube was found buckled in compression. The landing gear had not been inspected at the interval recommended by the manufacturer.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N300RA
- Reported as
- Cessna 310J
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 310J0152
- Airframe hours
- 5,664
- Engine
- Continental IO-470-U, 260 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Thomas W. Cherwin
- Registered owner
- Thomas W. Cherwin
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 13, 1990 · 190 hours before
- Airport
- ARR · Aurora Municipal, runway 27, 6,500 × 100 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
- Unknown, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 957 total · 500 in this make and model · 796 as pilot in command · 60 in the last 90 days · 47 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F, dew point -0 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.