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FTW87LA024

1986-12-01 · KERRVILLE, Texas, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport ERV

N1970Y has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (AMERICAN AA-1, built 1970), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Factual narrative

THE PILOT WAS UNABLE TO EXTEND THE LANDING GEAR IN PREPARATION FOR LANDING. TROUBLESHOOTING AND SEVERAL ATTEMPTS TO EXTEND THE GEAR FAILED. THE PILOT THEN MADE A 360 DEGREE TURN OVER THE AIRPORT TO LOSE ALTITUDE DURING WHICH, HE SECURED THE ENGINE AND STOPPED THE PROPELLER IN A HORIZONTAL POSITION TO MINIMIZE DAMAGE. THE PILOT REALIZED AFTER 270 DEGREES OF TURN THAT INSUFFICIENT ALTITUDE REMAINED TO REACH THE RUNWAY. THE AIRCRAFT WAS SUBSEQUENTLY LANDED ON ROUGH TERRAIN SHORT OF RUNWAY 30. POST ACCIDENT INSPECTION REVEALED THE NOSE GEAR TIRE WAS HANDING UP ON THE GEAR DOOR DURING EXTENSION. THE NOSE GEAR TIRE WAS FOUND TO BE INFLATED TO 40 PSI. THE MAINTENANCE MANUAL CALL FOR AN INFLATION PRESSURE OF 30 PSI. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1986_FTW87LA024.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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