- Date
- January 14, 2005, 08:20 local (15:20 UTC)
- Place
- Mesa, AZ
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N761YHCessna T210M
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 28, 2006
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20050114004969A
- Case key
- 60861
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 pilot's failure to use the emergency gear extension procedure to manually extend the landing gear to the down and locked position.
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 landing gear collapsed during touchdown. The flight was approximately 40 miles southeast of Falcon Field when the pilot noticed an electrical low voltage warning. The pilot contacted the Falcon Field air traffic control specialist and declared his intentions to return to the airport and land. He was unable to establish additional radio communications. During approach to the airport, the pilot moved the landing gear selector switch to the down position, then visually confirmed that the landing gear appeared to be in the down position. He received permission to land via a light gun signal, and upon touchdown on runway 4R, the right main landing gear collapsed. After the accident, the pilot opined that he should have used the emergency landing gear extension procedure to ensure that the gear was in the down and locked position.
Factual narrative
On January 14, 2005, about 0820 mountain standard time, the landing gear of a Cessna T210M, N761YH, collapsed during touchdown at Falcon Field Airport, Mesa, Arizona. Arnett Family, Inc., was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. The private pilot and one passenger were not injured; the airplane sustained substantial damage. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a flight plan had not been filed. The personal cross-country flight departed from Mesa about 0730, with a planned destination of San Carlos Apache Airport, Globe, Arizona.
In a telephone conversation with a National Transportation Safety Board investigator, the pilot reported that during cruise flight, approximately 40 miles southeast of Falcon Field, he noticed an electrical low voltage warning. He contacted the Falcon Field air traffic control specialist and declared his intentions to return to the airport and land. He was unable to establish further radio communications.
During the approach to the airport, the pilot moved the landing gear switch to the down position, then visually confirmed that the landing gear appeared to be in the down position. He received permission to land via a light gun signal, and upon touchdown on runway 4R, the right main landing gear collapsed. The airplane incurred damage to the right horizontal stabilizer and right aileron.
After the accident, the pilot opined that he should have correctly configured the landing gear in the down and locked position by using the emergency landing gear extension procedure.
According to the Cessna T210M Pilot Operating Handbook (POH), "If efforts to extend and lock the gear through the normal landing gear system fail, the gear can be manually extended by use of the emergency hand pump."
Aircraft
- Registration
- N761YH
- Reported as
- Cessna T210M
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 21062621
- Airframe hours
- 2,532
- Engine
- Continental TSIO-520R, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Arnett Family, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 17, 2004
- Departed
- KFFZ · Mesa, AZ
- Destination
- KP13 · Globe, AZ
- Airport
- FFZ · Falcon Field Airport, runway 4R, 5,102 × 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
- 67
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3
- Last flight review
- March 1, 2003
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 755 total · 755 in this make and model · 755 as pilot in command · 5 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 20° at 15 knots
- Visibility
- 40 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 48 °F, dew point 34 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.29 inHg
- Observed at
- FFZ
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.