You are correct about the 2 devices, however, it has happened. If I recall, one was a construction company out of Baton Rouge. The release button had stuck, and the latch was not attached to the gear. The pin worked its way out. In the case of this accident, evidence of the ears where the pin fits being intact, and the picture of the pin on the runway appears to substantiate the fact that it can happen.
I should have been more clear, it’s obvious now that it happened. With the clip on the lanyard that is supposed to be hooked to the loop attached to the handle and the safety pin on the opposite side I find it hard to think of a scenario where that pin can dislodge itself.
I zoomed in on the picture in Post #2. It's pretty blurry, but it appears that the safety latch on the end of the pin where the relesase button is located, is still attached to the strut. If that is the case, then the end of the pin must have broken off. Hopefully, the report will give us the real answer.
The feds made a big deal about operational control in 135 about 16 years ago, too many airplanes on certs basically on paper only with no actual oversight by the 135. They made a fuss about it for a bit and then moved on to the next probleme du jour An older GIV isn't actually worth much, most of the capital is in the engines and the APU, the airframe is just carrying those things around at a considerable cost. Big boy toys, thin wallets should not jump in that pool.
www.ktvq.com
I have a friend in reinsurance that I asked a while back about rising insurance rates in GA, he said his company left the aviation market several years prior and that others were following suit. Just way too many losses and risk.
And for operational control check this out,
FAA proposes $339,716 Civil Penalty against Montana company and associates
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) proposes a $339,716 civil penalty against Slice of the 406 LLC, 82 and Sunny LLC, and other associated parties for allegedly conducting illegal charter flights.
Here is the NTSB report
Yipes. That’s….amazingI have a friend in reinsurance that I asked a while back about rising insurance rates in GA, he said his company left the aviation market several years prior and that others were following suit. Just way too many losses and risk.
And for operational control check this out,
FAA proposes $339,716 Civil Penalty against Montana company and associates
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) proposes a $339,716 civil penalty against Slice of the 406 LLC, 82 and Sunny LLC, and other associated parties for allegedly conducting illegal charter flights.
Here is the NTSB report
I knew a doctor that was over 70 that owned one of these for about 18 months. In that time he landed gear up not once, not twice, but three times. Probably flew it a grand total of 10 to 15 flights tops.
