DEN00LA060

NTSB accident investigation · Beech B55 · Ogden, UT · March 16, 2000

Accident · No injuriesLimited investigationFinal report
Date
March 16, 2000, 13:56 local (20:56 UTC)
Place
Ogden, UT
Injuries
2 uninjured
Damage
Substantial damage
Phase of flight
Landing
Aircraft
N13RJBeech B55
Weather
Visual (VMC) · Day
Status
Completed · report November 29, 2000
Report
Approved by Office Director
FAA report
20000316004819A
Case key
48852

From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.

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Probable cause

Inadvertent landing gear retraction by person(s) undetermined. A factor was the inadequate supervision of the flight by the flight instructor.

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 collapsedLanding - roll
Gear retraction - inadvertentUnknownCause
Supervision - inadequatePilot in command(cfi)Factor
Main gear collapsedLanding - roll

Analysis

The pilots had been practicing instrument approaches, and they decided to land. The owner-pilot receiving instruction made a normal landing but during the rollout, the nose landing gear collapsed. The airplane slid on its nose, then began to veer to the left. The right main landing gear then collapsed. An FAA inspector who examined the airplane found the landing gear selector in the DOWN position, and the flap handle in the UP position. The landing gear doors were open. The landing gear torque tubes were bent and not broken.

Factual narrative

On March 16, 2000, at 1356 mountain standard time, a Beech B55, N13RJ, was substantially damaged when the nose landing gear, and right main landing gear, collapsed during landing roll at Ogden-Hinkley Field, Ogden, Utah. The commercial certificated flight instructor (pilot in command) and the private pilot receiving instruction (aircraft owner) were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed for the personal flight being conducted under Title 14 CFR Part 91. The flight originated at Salt Lake City, Utah, approximately 1320.

According to the accident report submitted by the aircraft owner, the two pilots had been practicing instrument approaches, and they decided to land. The owner said he made a normal landing but during the rollout, the nose landing gear collapsed. The airplane slid on its nose, then began to veer to the left. The right main landing gear then collapsed. Fuselage bulkheads, stringers, and ribs were damaged.

According to the FAA inspector who examined the airplane, the landing gear selector was in the DOWN position, and the flap handle was in the UP position. He said the gear motor, which later tested satisfactory, had to have been working because the gear doors were open. In addition, he said the landing gear torque tubes were bent and not broken.

Aircraft

Registration
N13RJ
Reported as
Beech B55
Category
Airplane
Serial number
7C-2247
Airframe hours
1,733
Engine
Continental IO-470-L, 260 horsepower, reciprocating
Damage
Substantial damage
Flight
Instructional · Part 91
Registered owner
Mark E. Towner
Airworthiness certificate
Standard, Normal
Last inspection
Annual · May 13, 1999
Departed
SLC · Salt Lake City, UT
Airport
OGD · Ogden-Hinkley Field, runway 3, 8,103 × 150 ft, asphalt

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
23
Certificates
Commercial, Flight instructor
Airplane ratings
Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
Instrument ratings
Airplane
Medical
Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
Seat
Right
Flight hours
700 total · 41 in this make and model · 646 as pilot in command · 137 in the last 90 days · 60 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours

Weather

Conditions
Visual (VMC) · Day
Wind
190° at 9 knots
Visibility
10 statute miles
Lowest ceiling
None
Temperature
48 °F, dew point 21 °F
Altimeter
30.00 inHg
Observed at
OGD

FAA reports on this event · 1

The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.