- Date
- March 6, 1990, 19:03 local (Mar 7, 1990, 02:03 UTC)
- Place
- Alamogordo, NM
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N3128KCessna 402B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report September 15, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900306003419A
- Case key
- 17901
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 collapse of the right main landing gear as a result of the malfunction of the down lock assembly and failure of the torque tube bracket assembly.
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 right landing gear made a loud noise during retraction and the gear 'unlocked' light remained on. The commercial pilot of the air taxi cargo flight flew by a control tower at holloman air force base for a visual check of the landing gear. Tower personnel were able to confirm the gear did not appear to be locked down. During landing roll, the right main landing gear folded, the plane swerved to the right and came to rest off the right side of the runway. A postaccident investigation revealed that the torque tube bracket assembly had failed and resulted in the gear down lock assembly malfunction.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3128K
- Reported as
- Cessna 402B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 402B-0301
- Airframe hours
- 6,380
- Engine
- Continental TSIO-520E, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 135
- Operator
- New Mexico Flying Service
- Registered owner
- New Mexico Flying Service
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · January 11, 1990 · 99 hours before
- Departed
- CNM · Carlsbad, NM
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- ALM · Alamogordo, runway 21, 7,005 × 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
- 42
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 6,378 total · 194 in this make and model · 6,084 as pilot in command · 164 in the last 90 days · 73 in the last 30 days · 7 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 190° at 14 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 20,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 36 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.