SEA06LA011

NTSB accident investigation · Cessna 402B · Sandpoint, ID · October 21, 2005

Accident · No injuriesLimited investigationFinal report
Date
October 21, 2005, 15:50 local (22:50 UTC)
Place
Sandpoint, ID
Injuries
2 uninjured
Damage
Substantial damage
Phase of flight
Landing
Aircraft
N402CACessna 402B
Weather
Visual (VMC) · Day
Status
Completed · report April 25, 2006
Report
Approved by Office Director
Parties
FAA FSDO
FAA report
20051021027039A
Case key
62728

From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.

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Probable cause

The pilot's misjudged distance/altitude, which led to him landing short of the runway and impacting the runway's elevated lip. Contributing factors were the elevated runway lip and the right main landing gear failure.

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.

UndershootLanding - flare/touchdown
Flare - misjudgedPilot in commandCause
Proper touchdown point - not obtainedPilot in commandCause
Distance/altitude - misjudgedPilot in commandCause
On ground/water collision with objectLanding - roll
Object - otherFactor
Gear collapsedLanding - roll

Analysis

The pilot said that the flight was normal and he extended the flaps to 45 degrees on one-half mile final for landing. He said that soon after touchdown, the right wing slowly began to fall to the ground. Subsequently, the right wingtip fuel tank impacted a runway light, which compromised the tank. Additionally, the right aileron received a deep gouge in it and the outboard bottom of the wing was damaged. The pilot certificated passenger said that the pilot said to him while on final approach, "watch me make the first taxiway [1,342 feet]." The passenger further stated that "the approach looked really slow." The pilot-passenger said that the resulting landing was "joltingly hard." He said that he was not sure if they had hit something. He said that after the right wing was down on the runway, he saw fuel draining from the right tip tank, and after the airplane came to rest, he exited through the rear door. There was no post landing fire. A construction employee, who was acting as a ground traffic-safety person at the approach end to runway 01, said she observed the airplane land in the dirt, short of the runway. She said that it looked like the airplane landed "very hard", and then it bounced into the air. One of the fixed base operations employees stated that he saw the airplane on a steep final approach. He said that he lost sight of the airplane behind a building, but then saw the airplane perform its "second landing." The employee said the approach end to runway 01 has a 1 to 2 inch lip from the terrain to the surface of the runway.

Factual narrative

On October 21, 2005, at approximately 1550 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 402B, N402CA, was substantially damaged during a landing attempt at the Sandpoint Airport, Sandpoint, Idaho. The commercial pilot and his passenger were not injured. Aeroflight Executive Service, Inc., was operating the flight under Title 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the cross-country, positioning flight which originated approximately 35 minutes before the accident. A company VFR flight plan was on file.

The pilot said that the flight was normal and his approach to landing was normal; however, flaps were extended to 45 degrees on one-half mile final. He said that as the wheels touched down, the gear warning horn began to sound and the right wing slowly began to fall to the ground. The pilot said that from this point on he had no directional control of the airplane, and it departed the right side of the runway. Subsequently, the right wingtip fuel tank impacted a runway light, which compromised the tank. Additionally, the right aileron received a deep gouge in it and the outboard bottom of the wing was damaged.

The pilot certificated passenger said, in a telephone interview with a Federal Aviation Inspector, that the pilot said to him while on final approach, "watch me make the first taxiway [1,342 feet]." The passenger further stated that "the approach looked really slow." The pilot-passenger said that the resulting landing was "joltingly hard." He said that he was not sure if they had hit something. He said that after the right wing was down on the runway, he saw fuel draining from the right tip tank. He said that after the airplane came to rest, he exited through the rear door; there was no post landing fire.

A construction employee, who was acting as a ground traffic-safety person at the approach end to runway 01, said she observed the airplane land in the dirt, short of the runway. She said that it looked like the airplane landed "very hard", and then it bounced into the air. One of the fixed base operations employees stated that he saw the airplane on a steep final approach. He said that he lost sight of the airplane behind a building, but then saw the airplane perform its "second landing." The employee said the approach end to runway 01 has a 1 to 2 inch lip from the terrain to the surface of the runway.

Aircraft

Registration
N402CA
Reported as
Cessna 402B
Category
Airplane
Serial number
402B0842
Airframe hours
10,939
Engine
Continental TSIO-520-E, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
Damage
Substantial damage
Flight
Ferry · Part 91
Registered owner
Aerolease of America Inc.
Airworthiness certificate
Standard, Normal
Last inspection
100 hour · October 1, 2005 · 28 hours before
Departed
SFF · Spokane, WA
Destination
SZT · Sandpoint, ID
Flight plan
Company VFR
Airport
SZT · Sandpoint Airport, runway 01, 5,502 × 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 · 2

As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.

Role
Pilot
Age
28
Injuries
None
Certificates
Flight instructor, Commercial
Airplane ratings
Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
Medical
Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
Last flight review
September 1, 2005
Seat
Left
Flight hours
1,212 total · 132 in the last 90 days · 35 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Role
Other flight crew
Age
24
Injuries
None
Certificates
Commercial, Flight instructor, Airline transport
Airplane ratings
Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
Instrument ratings
Airplane
Medical
Class 1, Without waivers/limitations
Last flight review
September 1, 2005
Seat
Right
Flight hours
1 in the last 24 hours

Weather

Conditions
Visual (VMC) · Day
Wind
20° at 6 knots
Visibility
10 statute miles
Lowest ceiling
None
Temperature
59 °F, dew point 43 °F
Altimeter
30.22 inHg
Observed at
GEG, 54 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.