- Date
- July 8, 1991, 20:36 local (Jul 9, 1991, 02:36 UTC)
- Place
- Denver, CO
- Injuries
- 6 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N8404Boeing 707-323C
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed · report July 13, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910708026509A
- Case key
- 18028
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
Improper overhaul of the nose gear assembly by other maintenance personnel.
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
During rotation on the takeoff roll, the nose landing gear came off the airplane and remained on the ground. As the aircraft passed over the nose landing gear assembly, damage occurred to the belly of the aircraft. Takeoff was completed and an emergency landing was conducted with the main landing gear and the stub of the nose landing gear shock strut extended. Disassembly of the shock strut inner cylinder revealed the absence of several parts. The area where these parts are located is a sealed area that was not compromised. This discrepancy allowed a retention nut to back off which resulted in nose gear separation. The nose gear assembly was overhauled on 9/4/85.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8404
- Reported as
- Boeing 707-323C
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 19582LINE663
- Engine
- P&W JT3D-3B, 18,500 horsepower, turbo fan
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 121
- Operator
- Southern Air Transport (Sat)
- Destination
- MCI · Kansas City, MO
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- DEN · Stapleton International, runway 17, 12,000 × 200 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
- 50
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 10,271 total · 3,138 in this make and model · 241 in the last 90 days · 78 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- 190° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 25,000 ft broken
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 N8404 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.