Event SEA97LA091

Factual narrative

On April 19, 1997, at 1320 mountain daylight time, a Beech 65-A90, N616AS, operated by Skydive Salt Lake, as a 14 CFR Part 91 flight, collapsed the main landing gear during the landing at Salt Lake #2 Airport, West Jordan, Utah. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed. The airplane was substantially damaged and the commercial pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. The flight had departed from West Jordan about 20 minutes prior to the accident and had just dropped off parachutists. The pilot reported in a written statement that the "gear would not come down and lock." The pilot stated that he executed the emergency procedures, however, he still did not get three green lights. The pilot flew over the runway twice and ground personnel reported that it appeared that all three landing gear were down. The pilot stated that he opted to land due to a low fuel status. After the accident, the pilot reported to investigators, that he did not have a green light on the left main, but that the right main and the nose gear did. The pilot refused to provide additional information to questions the investigative team had regarding the emergency procedures that the pilot stated that he performed prior to touch down. Personnel on the ground provided a video tape of the landing. The video tape indicates that all three landing gear were extended. The approach for landing was made without the use of flaps. The touch down was made with the weight on the right main landing gear and favoring the left. The video indicates that during the landing roll, the airplane started to slide side-ways on the right main, which began to collapse and eventually separated from the airplane. The left main also collapsed. The airplane then slid to a stop. Prior to the investigative team arriving at the accident site, the owner/operator jacked the airplane up and removed it from the runway. Inspection of the landing gear system by Federal Aviation Administration inspectors from the Salt Lake City, Utah, Flight Standards District Office, reported that the upper torque knee was broken on the left main landing gear. Due to the lack of cooperation from the pilot to identify what emergency procedures were used, and the operator to provide maintenance records, the reason for the break of the upper torque knee was not determined. The Beechcraft King Air Pilots Operating Manual states that the procedure for the landing gear manual extension is: 1. Airspeed - Establish 120 knots IAS 2. Landing gear relay circuit breaker - Pull 3. Landing gear handle - Down 4. Extension lever - Unstow 5. Clutch handle - Pull up and turn clockwise 6. Extension lever - Pump up and down until 3 green lights are acquired. The FAA inspectors found that the landing gear relay circuit breaker was not pulled. It could not be determined if the landing gear had been fully extended via the extension lever. The pilot stated that after parachutists egressed from the airplane, he returned to the airport and found that he did not have a green down-and-locked indication for the left main landing gear. He stated that he executed emergency procedures and did two fly-bys over the runway. Ground personnel stated that the landing gear appeared to be down-and-locked. During the landing roll, the airplane began to slide side-ways, and the right main landing gear began to collapse and eventually separated from the airplane. The left main gear also collapsed as the airplane slid to a stop. After the accident, the upper torque knee on the left main landing gear was found broken. The failure mode of the upper torque knee was not determined. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12