Cessna 340A N17MH

Summary

On 30 May 2007 at about 20:50 local time, a Cessna 340A registered N17MH was involved in an accident near Middleton, Wisconsin, 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

30 May 2007 at 20:50

Classification

Accident

Location

Middleton, Wisconsin, United States

Nearest airport

Middleton Municipal Airport (C29)

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Cessna 340A

Registration

N17MH

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Madison → Middleton

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI07LA159

Nobody was injured.

Failure of the right main landing gear extension and retraction linkage, which allowed the gear assembly to collapse during landing rollout. An additional cause was the improper adjustment procedure(s) by undetermined mechanic(s). The runway lights struck during the accident sequence were contributing factors.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot stated that multiple approaches and landings had been conducted during the dual proficiency flight. Prior to the accident landing, he observed three green lights indicating that the landing gear was properly extended. The landing touchdown was "light." A "few seconds" after touchdown the aircraft began to "shudder" and the gear horn started to sound. The airplane began to drift right and the right wing began to settle. As the right main gear collapsed, the aircraft departed the runway pavement, striking two runway lights in the process. The aircraft came to rest in a grass area adjacent to the runway. The nose and left main landing gear remained extended during the accident. A post accident examination of the aircraft revealed that the forward bellcrank attachment flange on the landing gear strut failed. In addition, the lower flange on the bellcrank had also failed. According to the airplane manufacturer, the location of the failures was consistent with the cumulative effect of improper adjustment of the downlock mechanism over time. However, any improper adjustment procedure could not be attributed to any specific maintenance action or to a particular mechanic. Additionally, the maintenance log entry related to the adjustments made during the most recent annual inspection indicated that the airplane maintenance manual instructions regarding landing gear adjustments were complied with properly.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.