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CHI92LA071

1992-01-13 · GRAND RAPIDS, Minnesota, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport GPZ

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT'S LACK OF FAMILIARITY WITH AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS WHICH RESULTED IN HIS FAILURE TO EXTEND THE LANDING GEAR BY THE ALTERNATE SYSTEM. A FACTOR WAS THE LOSS OF ENGINE POWER.

Factual narrative

THE PILOT STATED THAT DURING CRUISE FLIGHT THE LEFT ENGINE BEGAN TO RUN ROUGH AND THEN LOST POWER COMPLETELY. WHEN ATTEMPTS TO RESTART WERE UNSUCCESSFUL, HE FEATHERED THE PROPELLER AND TURNED TOWARDS THE NEAREST AIRPORT TO LAND. HE EXTENDED THE LANDING GEAR WHEN THE AIRPLANE WAS ABOUT ONE MILE FROM THE RUNWAY THRESHOLD, BUT DID NOT GET A GEAR DOWN AND LOCKED INDICATION. WITH ENGINE DRIVEN HYDRAULIC PRESSURE UNAVAILABLE FOR GEAR EXTENSION, EMERGENCY MANUAL GEAR EXTENSION IS REQUIRED. THE PILOT STATED HE DID NOT HAVE TIME FOR MANUAL GEAR EXTENSION, AND JUDGED A GO-AROUND TO BE INADVISABLE. HE SIDE-STEPPED AND LANDED ON THE SNOW-COVERED GROUND ADJACENT TO THE RUNWAY. THE PARTIALLY EXTENDED LANDING GEAR COLLAPSED UPON TOUCHDOWN AND THE AIRPLANE CAME TO A STOP NOSE DOWN IN THE SNOW. THE LOSS OF ENGINE POWER WAS DUE TO A FAILED VALVE IN THE NUMBER 3 CYLINDER. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1992_CHI92LA071.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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