- Date
- January 9, 2000, 13:00 local (18:00 UTC)
- Place
- Jekyll Island, GA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N54SXSwearingen SX300
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 13, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20000109013409A
- Case key
- 48474
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 left main landing gear attachment during the landing/flare touchdown for undetermined reasons, resulting in the loss of directional control and the airplane exiting the runway and colliding with a runway light.
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 pilot stated that during the landing touchdown, the left wheel settled and the airplane veered off the runway, incurring damage. According to the pilot, an examination of the airplane and landing area after the accident showed that the left tire was sideways at touchdown. There was a gouge where the left strut dug into the asphalt. A representative of the owner examined the accident aircraft, and stated that the left main landing gear torque link pin boss fractured, which allowed the wheel and axle assembly to rotate outwards, breaking the axle block off at the weld on the oleo piston tube during the landing rollout.
Factual narrative
On January 9, 2000, about 1300 eastern standard time, a Swearingen SX300, N54SX, registered to a private owner, operated as a Title 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight, crashed on landing at Jekyll Island, Georgia. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed in the area, and no flight plan was filed. The aircraft received substantial damage, and the commercial-rated pilot and passenger were not injured. The flight originated from Spruce Creek Airport, the same day, about 1115.
The pilot stated that upon arrival at the destination airport, instrument meteorological conditions prevailed. However, shortly thereafter, the weather conditions changed and he was able to land during visual meteorological conditions. During the landing touchdown, the left wheel settled and the airplane veered off the runway, incurring damage. The pilot further stated that he examined the airplane and the landing area after the accident and there was a scrape showing that the tire was sideways at touchdown. There was also a gouge where the left strut dug into the asphalt, along with the corresponding skid mark from the right main landing gear as he applied the brakes and slid prior to exiting the runway.
A representative of the owner examined the accident aircraft, and stated that the left main landing gear torque link pin boss fractured, which allowed the wheel and axle assembly to rotate outwards, breaking the axle block off at the weld on the oleo piston tube during the landing rollout.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N54SX
- Reported as
- Swearingen SX300
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- KMP054
- Airframe hours
- 123
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-540-L1C5, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Jim Kennedy
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 23, 1999 · 61 hours before
- Departed
- 7FL6 · Daytona Beach, FL
- Destination
- 09J
- Airport
- 09J · Jekyll Island, runway 18, 3,711 × 75 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
- 64
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 6,170 total · 128 in this make and model · 6,170 as pilot in command · 28 in the last 90 days · 11 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 140° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 100 ft broken
- Temperature
- 61 °F, dew point 57 °F
- Observed at
- SSI, 8 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.