Swearingen SA227 N681TR

Summary

On 27 July 2019 at about 11:35 local time, a Swearingen SA227 registered N681TR, operated by Pak West Airlines, was involved in an accident near El Paso, Texas, United States. 3 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

27 July 2019 at 11:35

Classification

Accident

Location

El Paso, Texas, United States

Nearest airport

El Paso Int'l (ELP)

Coordinates

31.8072, -106.3764

Aircraft

Swearingen SA227

Registration

N681TR

Category

Airplane

Year built

1987

Engines

2

Operator

Pak West Airlines

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

El Paso → El Paso

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN19LA246

Nobody was injured.

Failure of the left main landing gear to fully extend due to a lack of hydraulic fluid and during emergency extension procedures, which resulted in the collapse of the landing gear during landing and the subsequent runway excursion and collision with a sign.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The captain noted that the purpose of the flight was second-in-command pilot training for the first officer and the observer, in turn. He reported that after takeoff, the landing gear retracted normally. The captain executed a practice instrument approach to a missed approach. When they attempted to retract the landing gear after initiating the missed approach, the left main gear in-transit light remained illuminated. The right main and nose landing gears retracted normally. Both hydraulic system low pressure warning lights subsequently illuminated. Efforts to troubleshoot using the emergency checklist and to extend the landing gear manually were not successful. The captain ultimately landed the airplane with the left main landing gear partially extended and subsequently lost directional control, which resulted in a runway excursion and impact with an airport sign. The airplane sustained damage to the outboard left wing, left main landing gear, and left propeller. During a postaccident examination, hydraulic fluid was observed in the left main landing gear wheel well; no hydraulic fluid was observed in the reservoir sight gauge or on the dip stick. Hydraulic pressure was subsequently applied to the airplane, and no leaks were observed in the landing gear system. Thus, the source of the hydraulic fluid leak could not be determined. In addition, the reason that the landing gear failed to fully extend during the emergency extension procedure could not be determined because no preaccident anomalies were observed.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.