Skip to content

SEA93LA045

1992-12-25 · GILLETTE, Wyoming, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport GCC

N302DC has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (DJI AGRAS T40), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

JAMMING OF THE NOSE LANDING GEAR DOOR OPENING MECHANISM AND THE PILOT IN COMMAND'S EXCESSIVE DESCENT RATE UPON TOUCHDOWN.

Factual narrative

WHILE ON DOWNWIND FOR RUNWAY 16 THE PILOT WAS UNABLE TO EXTEND THE EXPERIMENTAL AIRCRAFT'S NOSE LANDING GEAR. ATTEMPTS TO RETRACT THE MAIN GEAR FOR A GEAR UP LANDING WERE ALSO UNSUCCESSFUL. TOWER PERSONNEL REPORTED OBSERVING THE AIRCRAFT MAKE A HARD LANDING AT THE APPROACH END OF THE RUNWAY DURING WHICH THE AIRCRAFT DID NOT BOUNCE AND SKIDDED TO A STOP AFTER AN APPROXIMATE 15 FOOT GROUND ROLL. SUBSEQUENT EXAMINATION OF THE AIRCRAFT REVEALED THAT THE MECHANICAL NOSE LANDING GEAR DOOR OPENING MECHANISM HAD BOUND UP PREVENTING THE NOSE GEAR DOORS FROM OPENING AND SUBSEQUENT NOSE GEAR EXTENSION. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1992_SEA93LA045.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.