- Date
- April 3, 1992, 10:05 local (17:05 UTC)
- Place
- Denver, CO
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N6460YPiper PA-23-250
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 23, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19920403042499A
- Case key
- 18475
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 loss of hydraulic fluid due to a ruptured hydraulic line in the landing gear system.
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
A CFI was instructing an instrument rated commercial pilot. During a practice missed approach, the landing gear failed to retract. The crew attempted to lower the landing gear using all available emergency procedures. A fly-by the tower revealed that the main gears were down while the nose landing gear was in transit. During landing rollout, the nose gear collapsed as soon as it made contact with the runway. The gear malfunction was the result of a ruptured hydraulic fluid line. The depletion of the hydraulic fluid rendered the landing gear system inoperable.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6460Y
- Reported as
- Piper PA-23-250
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 3754
- Airframe hours
- 5,894
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-540-J4A5, 250 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Richard D. Sunderland
- Registered owner
- Richard D. Sunderland
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 1, 1991 · 94 hours before
- Departed
- 2V2 · Longmont, CO
- Airport
- BJC · Jeffco, runway 11, 9,000 × 100 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
- 41
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Airline transport, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 5,950 total · 500 in this make and model · 5,050 as pilot in command · 50 in the last 90 days · 20 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 240° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 80 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 66 °F, dew point 28 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- BJC, 1 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.