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23rd of July 2006 - Nose Gear Collapse - Blog #609

With only the pilot on board, a Cessna 402B departed Bimini International Airport (Bahamas) at 16.30 lt (local time) for a short positioning flight to Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport (Florida, USA) on this day in 2006.

The aircraft after having the nose landing gear and structural damage repaired (Source: www.aviacioncr.net © Erick Carmona Jimenez)

The 58 nautical miles (107 kilometers) flight would be operared as a VFR flight. At 16.36 the weather at the destination airport was such that Instrument Meteorological Conditions were present;

  • Wind - 050º at 10 knots, gusting 25 knots

  • Visibility - 1 statute mile

  • Clouds - 4600 feet broken - 12000 feet broken - Light thundersstorms and rain

  • Temperature - 26º

  • Dewpoint - 22º

  • Altimiter - 30.01 inHg (1016 hPa)

As the aircraft approached its destination the weather had deteriorated.

After receiving the landing clearance the aircraft touched down on runway 31 of Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport at 16.53 lt in a heavy thunderstorm with rain and a visibility of only 1/2 a mile. (with possible microburst activity)

During the landing roll the pilot was unable to keep the aircraft on the centreline and the aircraft veered off the runway. and collided with a runway sign. This caused the nose landing gear to collapse which resulted in both propellors striking the ground and the fuselage sustaining structural damage.

The aircraft after having the nose landing gear and structural damage repaired (Source: www.aviacioncr.net © Erick Carmona Jimenez)


The NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) investigated the accident, although neither the pilot nor the company submitted an accident report. On the 26th of February 2007, the NTSB published their Aviation Investigation FInal Report. They recorded the following Probable Cause and Findings in this report


"The pilot's continued flight into adverse weather, and his failure to maintain directional control of the airplane during the landing roll, which resulted in a collision with an airport runway sign, and a subsequent collapse of the nose gear. A factor contributing to the accident was a thunderstorm."


The NTSB report, which served as the source for this blog can be viewed by clicking on the .pdf file below;




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