On January 28, 1984, a Cessna 401A (registration N7KF) was involved in an aviation accident near San Francisco, CA. Investigators recorded the probable cause as: The landing gear system malfunctioned because the nose gear jammed the main gear during retraction. The jamming occurred because the nose strut did not extend due to lack of air pressure. This summary draws on records from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) historical archive.
An aircraft landed with its gear up after the nose gear jammed the main gear during retraction due to a lack of air pressure in the nose strut.
What happened
The aircraft was forced to land without its landing gear extended following unsuccessful attempts to lower it. The malfunction occurred because the nose gear became jammed against the main gear while the system was attempting to retract. This jamming was directly caused by the failure of the nose strut to extend, which resulted from a lack of air pressure within the system.
The investigation
Examination of the landing gear mechanism revealed that the primary issue stemmed from the pneumatic system. The nose strut failed to properly extend due to insufficient air pressure. Further inspection confirmed that the air charge was added to the system three weeks after the accident occurred, indicating a maintenance or servicing gap prior to the event.
Findings
The landing gear system malfunctioned because the nose gear jammed the main gear during retraction. The jamming occurred because the nose strut did not extend due to lack of air pressure.
Probable cause
The landing gear system malfunctioned because the nose gear jammed the main gear during retraction. The jamming occurred because the nose strut did not extend due to lack of air pressure.
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