Incident Overview

Date: Wednesday 11 May 1994
Aircraft Type: Beechcraft B200C Super King Air
Owner/operator: New South Wales Department of Health
Registration Number: VH-AMM
Location: Dubbo Airport, NSW (DBO) – ÿ Australia
Phase of Flight: Landing
Status: Substantial, repaired
Casualties: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants:
Component Affected: Landing gear actuator trunnion bearingsLanding gear actuator trunnion bearings
Investigating Agency: BASIBASI
Category: Accident
A pilot extended landing gear and obtained correct down and locked indications. A right main gear leg collapsed during the landing roll, causing excessive actuator movement and jamming of the downlock switch. Subsequent adjustments to the downlock switch resulted in the switch jamming, leading to a safe indication. Hydraulic pressure was terminated when the left and nose gears locked down, compromising the right gear lock’s function due to faulty trunnion bearings.A pilot extended landing gear and obtained correct down and locked indications. A right main gear leg collapsed during the landing roll, causing excessive actuator movement and jamming of the downlock switch. Subsequent adjustments to the downlock switch resulted in the switch jamming, leading to a safe indication. Hydraulic pressure was terminated when the left and nose gears locked down, compromising the right gear lock’s function due to faulty trunnion bearings.

Description

After arriving in the circuit area of Dubbo Airport, Australia, the pilot extended the landing gear and obtained the correct down and locked indications. The right main gear leg subsequently collapsed during the landing roll. The retract actuator trunnion bearings had collapsed, allowing excessive movement of the actuator in its mount. This resulted in insufficient travel of the actuator to fully engage the downlock. Two separate occurrences involving unsafe landing gear indications, which had been corrected in flight by recycling, had been reported to the operator’s maintenance staff prior to the accident. The maintenance staff, unable to duplicate the defect on the ground, had adjusted the downlock switch. Those adjustments finally resulted in the switch jamming in the closed position, giving a safe indication. The downlock switch has two functions, providing independent safe/unsafe indications of the lock and, in series with the nose and left leg switches, removal of electrical power to the hydraulic pump when the three downlocks are sensed in a locked condition. On the accident flight, with the right downlock switch jammed in the closed position, hydraulic pressure was terminated when the left and nose gears locked down. As the lock function of the right gear lock was compromised because of the failed trunnion bearings, the leg collapsed under the landing loads. Investigation of the aircraft maintenance requirements determined that the landing gear actuator trunnion bearings had been incorrectly identified as sealed bearings requiring no lubrication. The bearings fitted to the aircraft were of the unsealed type, with a requirement for lubrication every 1000 landings or 30 months.

Primary Cause

Incorrectly identified landing gear actuator trunnion bearings requiring lubrication, leading to improper lubrication and failure of the bearings.Incorrectly identified landing gear actuator trunnion bearings requiring lubrication, leading to improper lubrication and failure of the bearings.

Share on:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *