Cessna 421B N421KS

Summary

On 2 July 2004 at about 23:36 local time, a Cessna 421B registered N421KS was involved in an accident near Portland, Maine, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

2 July 2004 at 23:36

Classification

Accident

Location

Portland, Maine, United States

Nearest airport

Portland International Jetport (PWM)

Coordinates

43.6461, -70.3086

Aircraft

Cessna 421B

Registration

N421KS

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Groton → Portland

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

IAD04LA029

Nobody was injured.

Failure of the right main landing gear down-lock mechanism resulting in the collapse of the right main landing gear.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

Line personnel reported to the pilot that while the airplane had been parked on the ramp, heavy wind and rain "hydroplaned" the airplane across the ramp about 25 feet. After takeoff, the pilot retracted the landing gear and noticed an unfamiliar "clunking" noise during the retraction cycle. During the approach to the destination airport, he extended the landing gear and noted all three of the landing gear down and locked indicator lights were green. Sometime during the rollout he heard the "clunk" noise again, and the right wing began to settle lower than normal. The airplane then began to veer to the right and came to rest in the grass on the right side of runway. Examination of the right main landing gear revealed that two components of the down-lock mechanism had broken. The parts were submitted to the Safety Board Materials Laboratory. Metallurgical examination of the mating fractures revealed features typical of overstress separation. The fractures contained no evidence of fatigue.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.