- Date
- November 12, 1990, 11:03 local (18:03 UTC)
- Place
- Prescott, AZ
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N39776Piper PA-44-180
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 14, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19901112049729A
- Case key
- 27058
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 main landing gear trunion attach fitting for undetermined reasons.
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 aircraft was performing a normal landing when the right main gear strut failed on touch down. The student and the instructor were able to affect a rejected landing. The instructor flew the aircraft around the local area for three hours and forty five minutes to burn the fuel load down. The aircraft was then landed gear up at Prescott. During the rejected landing, the witnesses observed the right main landing gear hanging from the aircraft by the hydraulic brake line. During the time the aircraft was flown around the local area, the right main landing gear fell free from the aircraft. Post accident inspection of the aircraft revealed that the right main landing gear strut failed at the trunion attach fitting. The landing gear assembly and the associated attach fittings were not located for a detailed examination of the failure mode.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N39776
- Reported as
- Piper PA-44-180
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 44-7995030
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A1A6D, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Embry Riddle University
- Registered owner
- Unknown
- Departed
- PRC
- Destination
- PRC
- Flight plan
- Company VFR
- Airport
- PRC · Prescott, runway 21, 7,000 × 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
- 23
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor, Flight engineer
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 1,108 total · 100 in this make and model · 1,047 as pilot in command · 106 in the last 90 days · 47 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 10° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 65 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 25,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
- Observed at
- PRC
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 N39776 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.