Aviation Accident Summaries

Aviation Accident Summary WPR16LA163

Torrance, CA, USA

Aircraft #1

N756FZ

CESSNA TR182

Analysis

During an instructional flight, the flight instructor was demonstrating a normal landing to the pilot under instruction. As the airplane approached the runway, the instructor selected the landing gear down and configured the airplane for the landing. The landing checks were called out, and a landing gear green indictor light was verified, indicating that the landing gear should have been down and locked. The landing flare and initial touchdown were normal. However, shortly after the airplane touched down, it listed right as the right main landing gear (MLG) collapsed. The airplane then entered a 180o skidding turn before coming to a stop. Two witnesses reported seeing the airplane on final approach with its right MLG not fully extended. During a postaccident examination, the airplane was placed on jacks to facilitate a gear-swing test. The MLG were cycled multiple times with no evidence of any preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions that would have precluded normal operation. Each time the MLG were extended, the landing gear indicator lights inside the cockpit illuminated. The reason for the right MLG's failure to fully extend when the MLG were selected down could not be determined.

Factual Information

On August 8, 2016, at 1508 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna TR182, N756FZ, experienced a right main landing gear collapse after landing at Zamperini Field Airport (TOA), Torrance, California. The airplane was registered to M and S 182 LLC and operated by Pacific Skies Aviation under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The certified flight instructor and the commercial pilot undergoing instruction (PUI), were not injured. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right horizontal stabilizer. The local instructional flight departed TOA about 1338. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed. The flight instructor reported that he was demonstrating a normal landing to the PUI. As the flight approached the runway, he extended the landing gear and configured the airplane for a normal landing. The landing checks were called out and a green light was verified indicating that the landing gear was extended. The flare and initial touchdown were normal. Shortly after the airplane touched down, the airplane listed to the right. The airplane entered into a 180° skidding turn before coming to a stop. Two witnesses located at the airport reported seeing the airplane on final approach with its right main landing gear not fully extended. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector from the Long Beach Flight Standards District Office reported that when he arrived on site, he observed the airplane on the runway with the nose and left main landing gear down and locked. The right main landing gear was fully retracted. During the recovery process, the airplane was lifted and the right main landing gear freely fell into trail. A mechanic then manually placed the right side gear in the down and locked position. The airplane was lowered onto the landing gear and subsequently towed from the runway to a secured location. During a postaccident examination, the airplane was placed on jacks to facilitate a gear swing test. The landing gear was cycled multiple times with no anomiles noted. The landing gear indicator lights inside the cockpit illuminated during the landing gear extension.

Probable Cause and Findings

The failure of the right main landing gear to fully extend for reasons that could not be determined because postaccident examination and testing did not reveal any evidence of preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions that would have precluded normal operation.

 

Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database

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