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| Date: | Thursday 11 July 1985 |
| Time: | 17:00 LT |
| Type: |  Mitsubishi MU-2B-26 |
| Owner/operator: | Gentex Corp. |
| Registration: | N727MA |
| MSN: | 342 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1976 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 26958 hours |
| Engine model: | AIRESEARCH TPE-331-6-252 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 3 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Southbridge, MA -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Executive |
| Departure airport: | MANCHESTER (KMHT) |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
DURING LNDG THE ACFT IMPACTED HARD AND SKIDDED DOWN THE RWY BEFORE IT WENT OFF THE LEFT SIDE OF THE RWY. THE LEFT MAIN WHEEL SEPARTED AND THE NOSE GEAR COLLAPSED. BOTH PLTS STATED THE LNDG APCH WAS NORMAL UNTIL THE ACFT WAS APRX 15 FTABOVE THE RWY AT WHICH TIME THE ACFT ABRUPTLY DESCENDED AND IMPACTED HARD WITH THE RWY. PRIOR TO THE IMPACT, THE ACFT WAS CONFIGURED WITH 20 DEGS OF FLAPS AND LNDG GEAR WAS DOWN AND LOCKED. THE AIRSPEED WAS 105 KTS. EXAMINATION OF THE ACFT DISCLOSED THAT THE AFT MAIN GEAR DOORS WERE OPEN AND THE NOSE DOWN LOCK LIMIT SWITCH WAS DEFECTIVE. THE SWITCH IS REQUIRED TO CLOSE THE AFT MAIN GEAR DOOR. THE FLIGHT TEST BY THE MFG DETERMINED THAT OPENED AFT MAIN GEAR DOOR HAS NONE TO UNNOTICIABLE EFFECT ON STALL SPEED. ACFT SPEED AT TOUCHDOWN BASED ON COMPUTATIONS FROM PROP SLASH MARKS WAS 86 KTS. THE STALL SPEED OF ACFT AT PREVAILING WEIGHT & FLAPS CONFIGURATION IS BELOW THIS SPEED, THE ACFT WEIGHT WAS APRX 9000 LBS.
Probable Cause:
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB NYC85FA163
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 21-Dec-2016 19:26 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency, ] |
| 13-Apr-2025 17:43 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Other fatalities, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, Accident report, ] |
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