NTSB LAX87LA328 — 1987-08-30 · LANCASTER, California, United States

Current FAA registration · N39DD

Make / Model: CESSNA 340
Year of manufacture: 1973 · 14 years old at event
Engine: CONT MOTOR TSIO-520 SER (300 hp)
Seats / Engines: 6 seats · 2 engines
Last airworthiness date: 19730718
ADS-B equipped: Yes — Mode-S A480BF

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

N39DD Cessna 310D None

Factual narrative

THE PILOT-IN-COMMAND (PIC) RPRTD THAT HE HEARD A LOUD BANG DURING GEAR RETRACTION AFTER TAKEOFF. BY USING THE CONVEX MIRRORS MOUNTED ON THE TIP TANKS, HE DETERMINED THAT THE NOSE GEAR WAS HANGING. HE CYCLED THE LANDING GEAR SWITCH SEVERAL TIMES, BUT THE NOSE GEAR DID NOT MOVE. THE PIC STATED THAT HE ELECTED TO LAND ON A SMOOTH SECTION OF GROUND WHICH WAS THE APPROACH TO RWY 24. HE STATED THAT DURING TOUCHDOWN, THE NOSE GEAR SWUNG INTO ITS WHEEL WELL, BUT THE LEFT MAIN GEAR COLLAPSED. THE ACFT THEN TURNED TO THE LEFT & THE RGT MAIN GEAR FAILED FROM SIDE LOADING. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE ACFT SLID TO A STOP WITH BOTH TIP TANKS BROKEN OFF. AN EXAM REVEALED THE NOSE GEAR ROD END LINK THAT CONNECTED TO THE LANDING GEAR TRANSMISSION GEARBOX HAD FRACTURED. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1987_LAX87LA328.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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