- Date
- August 9, 2002, 13:45 local (19:45 UTC)
- Place
- Grand Junction, CO
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N111KCCessna 310N
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 26, 2003
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Salt Lake City FSDO
- FAA report
- 20020809022999A
- Case key
- 55483
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 dual student's inadequate aircraft control resulting in a hard landing. Contributing factors include, the dual student's inadequate airspeed and high flare, the inadequate supervision by the instructor, the in-flight separation of the right main landing gear and the intentional wheels-up landing.
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
According to the instructor, the pilot receiving instruction made a hard landing. The instructor took the controls and initiated a go-around. Suspecting landing gear damage, he kept the landing gear extended and diverted to a nearby airport. On the approach, the right main landing gear fell off the aircraft. Because of the limited emergency equipment at the second airport, he was advised to divert to a third airport. While keeping the landing gear extended, they made a low pass over the runway, and witnesses confirmed the missing right main landing gear. The instructor retracted the landing gear and made an intentional gear-up landing. The airplane sustained extensive damage to the lower fuselage skin and bulkheads and substantial damage to the right main landing gear attachment point.
Factual narrative
On August 9, 2002, at approximately 1345 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 310N, N111KC, was substantially damaged during a hard landing at Glenwood Springs Municipal Airport (GWS), Glenwood Springs, Colorado. At 1456, the airplane was further damaged during an intentional gear-up landing at Walker Field (GJT), Grand Junction, Colorado. The airline transport pilot, and the pilot receiving instruction, were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. No flight plan had been filed for this instructional cross-country flight being conducted under Title 14 CFR Part 91. The flight originated at Pueblo Memorial Airport, Pueblo, Colorado, at approximately 1245.
According to the instructor, the pilot receiving instruction made a hard landing at Glenwood Springs. The instructor took the controls and initiated a go-around. Suspecting landing gear damage, he kept the landing gear extended and diverted to Garfield County Regional Airport (RIL), in Rifle, Colorado. On the approach to Garfield County Regional, the right main landing gear fell off the aircraft. Because of the limited emergency equipment at Garfield County Regional, he was advised to divert to Walker Field, in Grand Junction, Colorado. While keeping the landing gear extended, they made a low pass over the runway at Walker Field, and witnesses confirmed the missing right main landing gear. The instructor retracted the landing gear and made an intentional gear-up landing. The airplane sustained extensive damage to the lower fuselage skin and bulkheads and substantial damage to the right main landing gear attachment point.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N111KC
- Reported as
- Cessna 310N
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 310N-0005
- Airframe hours
- 3,570
- Engines
- Lycoming TIO-540-A2B, 310 horsepower, reciprocatingLycoming TIO-540-A2B, 310 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Russell Andrews
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 20, 2001 · 125 hours before
- Departed
- PUB · Pueblo, CO
- Destination
- GWS · Glenwood Spring, CO
- Airport
- GJT · Grand Junction, runway 29, 10,500 × 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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 55
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- May 14, 2002
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 6,488 total · 336 in this make and model · 6,070 as pilot in command · 116 in the last 90 days · 59 in the last 30 days · 6 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Co-pilot
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Last flight review
- April 4, 2002
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 395 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 310° at 11 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 91 °F, dew point 45 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.18 inHg
- Observed at
- GJT
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N111KC · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.