Kinston-Stallings Field

According to the pilot, an unsafe right gear indication was received during the approach, and the control tower controller confirmed the right gear was not fully extended. On landing roll the right main landing gear collapsed and the airplane slid off of the runway. Examination of the right main landing gear revealed the drag brace was fractured. The fracture was located at the lower side of a transition from a smaller internal diameter on the upper piece to a larger internal diameter on the lower piece. The region of the fracture surface was flat and perpendicular to the tube longitudinal axis. The region had a smooth, curving boundary, also consistent with fatigue. The fatigue features emanated from multiple origins at the inner surface of the tube. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued an Airworthiness Directive (AD) requiring an inspections of main landing gear drag stay units. The AD was prompted by the fracture of a drag stay tube from fatigue cracking that initiated from an improperly machined transition radius at the inner surface of the tube. According to Fokker ,the Fokker F27 Mark 500 airplanes (such as the incident airplane) were not equipped with drag stay units having part number 200261001, 200485001, or 200684001. One tube, part number 200259300, had a change in internal diameter (stepped bore), and the other tube, part number 200485300, had a straight internal bore. AD 97-04-08 required an ultrasonic inspection to determine if the installed tube had a straight or stepped bore. A review of maintenance records revealed that the failed drag stay tube had accumulated 28, 285 total cycles.

During takeoff from runway 22, the pilot reported that he had a problem, then there was no further communication from the aircraft. Several witnesses saw an object fall from the aircraft and one witness observed that a 'hood' had opened. The aircraft was maneuvered onto final approach to runway 36. A witness said that as the aircraft was lining up on final approach, it entered a steep bank and descended out of his sight. Subsequently, it collided with trees in a 27° descent, crashed and burned. A bag from the nose baggage compartment was found near the departure end of runway 22. No preimpact part failure or system malfunction of the aircraft was found. Before the flight, a ramp person observed the pilot servicing the left engine with oil, but he did not know if the pilot had secured the baggage door. An examination of the recovered door assembly failed to disclose a malfunction of the rear latch assembly. The forward latch assembly area was destroyed by fire. All three occupants were killed.

As engine power was increased for takeoff, the n°1 engine accelerated beyond target epr. Engine shut down had to be done with the fuel shut off lever. The asymmetric thrust was controlled with nose wheel steering. Before the airplane could be stopped the nose wheels separated from the landing gear. The investigation revealed that the fuel pump output spline to the fuel control had stripped. It occurred at such a time that the fuel control sensed an underspeed and increased Fuel flow. Misalignment of the spline shaft resulted from improper machining during pump modification. The nose gear inner cylinder failed in fatigue in an area of excessive grinding during overhaul. Two passengers were slightly injured.