ERA21LA235

NTSB accident investigation · Meyers Industries 200A · Marathon, FL · May 26, 2021

Accident · No injuriesClass 4 · LimitedFinal report
Date
May 26, 2021, 16:55 local (20:55 UTC)
Place
Marathon, FL
Injuries
1 uninjured
Damage
Substantial damage
Phase of flight
Landing
Aircraft
N489CMeyers Industries 200A
Defining event
Landing: Landing gear collapse
Weather
Visual (VMC) · Day
Status
Completed
Report
Approved by Office Director
Investigation class
Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
NTSB office
Eastern Region Aviation
Parties
FAA/FSDO
FAA report
20210526010109A
Case key
103171

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 failure of the right main landing gear to fully extend during landing as a result of the underinflated right main landing gear oleo strut.

Findings · 2

NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.

Maintenance: scheduled/routine maintenancePersonnel issues › Task performance · Maintenance personnelMeyers Industries 200A: 1 caseAll aircraft: 320 casesProbable cause
Landing gear system: main gear strut/axle/truckAircraft › Aircraft systems · Not serviced/maintainedMeyers Industries 200A: 1 caseAll aircraft: 86 casesProbable cause

Sequence of events

The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.

Analysis

According to the pilot, during final approach the nose and left main landing gear lights were illuminated green. The red “in-transit” light was illuminated for the right main landing gear. He overflew the runway and airport personnel confirmed that the right main landing gear was partially extended. He unsuccessfully attempted to cycle, manually extend, and use g-force maneuvers to extend the right main landing gear. The pilot performed a landing and kept the right wing off the ground as long as he could during the landing since the right main landing gear was partially extended. During the landing rollout, the right wing impacted the runway, the airplane veered to the right and came to rest off the right side of the runway, resulting in substantial damage to the right aileron. A post-accident examination of the right main landing gear revealed that the oleo strut was under inflated, therefore, the strut did not extend the wheel properly and could not retract correctly into the right main landing gear wheel well. Then, when the landing gear was extended, the wheel became lodged on the wheel well and could not extend properly. After the airplane was lifted off the runway, the right main landing gear was extended by hand and it locked into place. The most recent annual inspection was performed about 5 months before the accident, and at that time the left main landing gear actuator was serviced. The maintenance entry did not record any service to the right main landing gear.

Aircraft

Registration
N489C
Reported as
Meyers Industries 200A
Category
Airplane
Serial number
254
Built
1959
Airframe hours
3,601
Engine
Continental IO-520A, 285 horsepower, reciprocating
Damage
Substantial damage
Flight
Personal · Part 91
Airworthiness certificate
Standard, Normal
Last inspection
Annual · December 11, 2020 · 14 hours before
Departed
FD51 · Summerland Key, FL
Destination
Same as departure
Airport
MTH · The Florida Keys Marathon Intl, runway 07/25, 5,008 × 100 ft, asphalt
Equipment
Stall warning system, Electronic flight bag or handheld device, Auto-pilot, ADS-B

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
68
Injuries
None
Certificate
Commercial
Airplane ratings
Single-engine land, Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea
Instrument ratings
Airplane
Medical
Class 2, With waivers/limitations
Last flight review
December 9, 2019
Seat
Left
Restraint
3-point
Flight hours
8,524 total · 120 in this make and model · 8,146 as pilot in command · 58 in the last 90 days · 30 in the last 30 days

Weather

Conditions
Visual (VMC) · Day
Wind
90° at 10 knots
Visibility
10 statute miles
Lowest ceiling
None
Temperature
84 °F, dew point 66 °F
Altimeter
30.12 inHg
Observed at
MTH
METAR
KMTH 262053Z AUTO 09010KT 10SM FEW031 29/19 A3012 RMK AO2 SLP200 T02890194 56016

Docket · 4

The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 27, 2021, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.3 MB in all.

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 N489C · 2

Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.