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FTW84FA335

1984-08-02 · FORT WORTH, Texas, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport FTW

N81865 has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (GRUMMAN TBM-3E, built 1945), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Factual narrative

THE ACFTS RIGHT MAIN LANDING GEAR RETRACTED DURING LANDING ROLL. DURING INITIAL EXAMINATION OF THE GEAR BY FAA IT WAS NOTED THAT ONE OF THE TWO CLEVIS FITTINGS HAD SEPARATED FROM THE GEAR CASTING. IT REMAINED ATTACHED TO THE ROD END BEARING ON THE PUSH/PULL ROD OF THE EXTEND/RETRACT CYLINDER. TWO PERSONS PUSHING ON THE LANDING GEAR DRAG BRACE ATTEMPTED TO UNLOCK THE SYSTEM. THEY WERE UNSUCCESSFUL. THE DOWNLOCK NITROGEN CHARGE WAS BLED OFF AND THEN ONE PERSON COULD PUSH THE DRAG BRACE ENOUGH TO ACTIVATE THE GEAR LIGHT AND HORN IN THE COCKPIT. AFTER THE OTHER DOWNLOCK DEVICES INTHE FORM OF BUNGER CORDS WERE REMOVED, LIGHT PRESSURE ON THE DRAG LINK ACTIVATED THE UNSAFE LIGHT AND HORN. THIS ACTION TOOK PLACE AFTER 1/8 INCH MOVEMENT OF THE DRAG BRACE. ONE INCH MOVEMENT WAS NECESSARY TO 'UNLOCK' THE GEAR FOR RETRACTION. THE DRAG BRACE WAS EXAMINED FOR EVIDENCE OF SOME OBJECT HAVING HIT IT WITH ENOUGH FORCE TO UNLOCK IT. DURINGLANDING. NO SUCH EVIDENCE WAS FOUND. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1984_FTW84FA335.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.