- Date
- August 23, 1996, 18:40 local (Aug 24, 1996, 00:40 UTC)
- Place
- Telluride, CO
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N757QTCessna TR182
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 1, 1997
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19960823031399A
- Case key
- 19990
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
failure of the generator control unit (GCU), which resulted in a total electrical failure and failure of the main landing gear to lock in place.
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
As the pilot lowered the landing gear, there was a total electrical failure. He said he could not recall if he observed a GEAR DOWN AND LOCKED indication. He attempted to reset the alternator/voltage regulator circuit breaker, but to no avail. During the landing, the main landing gear collapsed, but the nose landing gear remained down and locked. The airplane skidded off the runway, damaging the left horizontal stabilizer forward and aft spars. Postaccident examination by a repair facility (and later confirmed by the manufacturer) disclosed the generator control unit (GCU) had failed.
Factual narrative
On August 23, 1996, approximately 1840 mountain daylight time, a Cessna TR182, N757QT, was substantially damaged when the main landing gear collapsed during landing at Telluride, Colorado. The private pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the personal flight that originated at Loveland, Colorado, on August 23, 1996, approximately 1630.
According to the pilot, when he was 10 miles from the airport, he called for an airport advisory but got no reply. When he was 5 miles from the airport, he lowered the landing gear. The pilot said there was a total electrical failure, and he but could not recall if he observed a GEAR DOWN AND LOCKED indication. He attempted to reset the alternator/voltage regulator circuit breaker but to no avail. Upon landing, the left and right main landing gears collapsed; the nose landing gear was down and locked.
This mishap was reported on the date of the occurrence as an incident. On September 23, 1996, the Denver Field Office of the National Transportation Safety Board was advised by the FAA's Salt Lake City, Utah, Flight Standards District Office that an airworthiness inspector had examined the airplane and found that the left horizontal stabilizer forward and aft spars were bent.
A spokesman for West Star Aviation, a repair facility in Grand Junction, Colorado, reported the generator control unit (GCU) had failed. The unit was sent to Precision Airmotive in Everett, Washington, for examination and testing. A company spokesman identified the GCU as one of their products and confirmed the unit had failed.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N757QT
- Reported as
- Cessna TR182
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- R18201258
- Airframe hours
- 1,710
- Engine
- Lycoming O-540-L3C5D, 235 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- William A. Stern
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 3, 1995 · 69 hours before
- Departed
- FNL · Loveland, CO
- Destination
- TEX
- Airport
- TEX · Telluride Regional, runway 9, 6,870 × 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
- 48
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 460 total · 371 in this make and model · 460 as pilot in command · 49 in the last 90 days · 17 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 25 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 5,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 68 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- TEX
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 N757QT · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.