What happened
On September 30, 2025, an Embraer 190, registration HI 1074, operated by SkyHigh Dominicana, was conducting a local demonstration flight at Aeropuerto Internacional Dr. José Fco. Peña Gómez (MDSD). During the approach and landing phase, the flight crew identified a failure in the nose landing gear extension system.
Following established emergency procedures, the crew executed a controlled emergency landing on runway 17/35, which was closed to traffic at the time due to maintenance activities. Upon touchdown, the aircraft's nose failed to support the weight, causing the aircraft to slide on its lower fuselage for several meters. There were no injuries among the seven occupants on board. The aircraft sustained damage to the nose gear door covers, the forward lower fuselage, and the shimmy damper.
The investigation
The CIAA investigation focused on the mechanical failure of the nose landing gear (NLG) and the structural impact of the landing. Technical inspections of the extension and retraction mechanism were conducted. The investigation established that the failure was not due to an operational error during flight, but rather a mechanical interference caused by improper component installation.
Findings
- The primary cause of the incident was the incorrect installation of bellcrank rear assemblies within the nose landing gear forward door mechanism.
- Specifically, the component intended for the right-hand (RH) side had been installed on the left-hand (LH) side, and vice versa.
- This error occurred during a recent maintenance task where components were reinstalled without strictly adhering to the procedures outlined in the Aircraft Maintenance Manual (AMM) section 32-22-01.
- The swapped components compromised the correct kinematics of the nose gear door system, preventing proper gear extension.