- Date
- May 20, 1989, 13:00 local (20:00 UTC)
- Place
- San Diego, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N6545PPiper PA-24-250
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 24, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890520012149A
- Case key
- 26414
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 collapse of the right main landing gear due to a bent rod end which prevented the landing gear drag link to lock over center.
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 right main landing gear collapsed during a landing after several attempts were made to lock the gear into the down position. Afterwards, when the aircraft was on jacks and the rod end disconnected, the landing gear was retracted and the drag link locked down over center and met tolerance. During the retraction the down lock switch could be heard to click prior to the drag link locking over center. Damage to the landing gear, except for the rod end, was impact damage from the collapsing gear.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6545P
- Reported as
- Piper PA-24-250
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 24-1667
- Airframe hours
- 3,650
- Engine
- Lycoming O-540-A1D5, 250 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Michael Peterson
- Registered owner
- Mike Peterson
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Airport
- MYF · Montgomery, runway 28R, 3,400 × 150 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
- 35
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 127 total · 5 in this make and model · 60 as pilot in command · 19 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 280° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point -0 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.