Boeing 737-524 N14655

Summary

On 21 August 2006 at about 10:30 local time, a Boeing 737-524 registered N14655, operated by Continental Airlines Inc, was involved in an incident near Newark, New Jersey, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was slightly damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

21 August 2006 at 10:30

Classification

Incident

Location

Newark, New Jersey, United States

Nearest airport

Newark Liberty (EWR)

Coordinates

40.6925, -74.1686

Aircraft

Boeing 737-524

Registration

N14655

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Continental Airlines Inc

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Minor

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC06IA207

Nobody was injured.

An overload failure of the airplane's nose landing gear while being towed for repositioning.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The Boeing 737 was being towed for repositioning by maintenance personnel, when the nose landing gear collapsed forward into the wheel well. The nose landing gear remained attached to the airplane by its primary trunnion support and upper drag brace. Metallurgical examination of the nose landing gear lower and upper drag braces, and lock brace, revealed no evidence of preexisting cracking, and that they failed due to overstress. Examination and testing of the nose landing gear steering components did not reveal any pre-incident malfunctions. The maintenance technician in the cockpit reported that he was "riding the brakes" at the time of the incident. The airplane maintenance manual stated that at a minimum, applying airplane brakes while towing the airplane could shear the towbar shear pins; however, there was no visible evidence on the ground that the airplane's brakes had been applied during the tow. After the incident, Boeing issued a service letter that discussed six previous reports of 737 nose landing gear collapse that occurred between 2004 to 2006 during pushback or towing. It also addressed current towbar design, and provided recommendations for operators intended to minimize the likelihood of nose gear damage or collapse during towing\pushback operations.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.