Plane Crash List

Williams Yakovlev YAK 3UPW N153U

22 March 2010 · Half Moon Bay, California, United States · No injuries

Summary

On 22 March 2010 at about 21:30 local time, a Williams Yakovlev YAK 3UPW registered N153U, operated by James A Williams, was involved in an accident near Half Moon Bay, California, United States. One person was 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.

The record

Date
at 21:30
Classification
Accident
Location
Half Moon Bay, California, United States
Nearest airport
Half Moon Bay (HAF)
Coordinates
37.5136, -122.5011
Aircraft
Williams Yakovlev YAK 3UPW
Registration
N153U
Category
Airplane
Engines
1
Operator
James A Williams
Operating rule
Part 91: General Aviation
Purpose of flight
Personal
Phase of flight
Not recorded
Route
Half Moon Bay → Half Moon Bay
Aircraft damage
Substantial
Weather
VMC
Light
Day
NTSB number
WPR10LA173

People

Nobody was injured.

On board Died Serious Minor Uninjured
1 0 0 0 1

Probable cause

The failure of left main landing gear actuator to lock in the down position due to low down-lock pressure as a result of a contaminated down-lock track and corroded down-lock balls.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

Prior to landing the pilot observed 3 green lights indicating that the landing gear was down and locked. During the landing roll the left main landing gear collapsed, which resulted in substantial damage to the left wing and aileron. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector reported that a postaccident examination of the left main landing gear's pneumatic actuator revealed that the actuator's down-lock ball track was contaminated with dirt and that the steel down-lock balls were corroded. The combination of dirt in the actuator's down-lock track, the corroded down-lock balls, and the low down-lock pressure likely caused the gear to collapse.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.

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