Piper PA-31-350 incident near Kotzebue, Alaska, March 15, 1997
On March 15, 1997 at about 11:57 pm local time, a Piper PA-31-350, registered N3542H, suffered minor damage in an incident near Kotzebue, Alaska (Ralph Wien Memorial airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135). No one was hurt; 3 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
the jammed main landing gear which was caused by a binding main landing gear door with a broken hinge. The fractured, inadequate main landing gear door hinge was also causal.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- March 15, 1997 · about 11:57 pm local time
- Place
- Kotzebue, Alaska · Ralph Wien Memorial · map
- Type
- Incident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 3 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Piper PA-31-350 · all PA-31-350s on the register
- Registration
- N3542H · no longer on the register · serial 31-7952233
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The airplane was landed with the landing gear retracted because the pilot was unable to lower the left main landing gear, although the nose gear and the right main landing gear would extend and lock properly. Postaccident inspection disclosed a fractured left main landing gear door hinge. The door hinge was the new, improved, version of an older hinge which had a history of cracking in the radius of the hinge. The hinge on the incident airplane was a replacement hinge mandated by an airworthiness directive. The replacement hinge also fractured in the radius. A review of Service Difficulty Reports disclosed at least eight other instances of cracks in the new hinge.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: airline transport pilot, flight instructor
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instructor: airplane multi-engine; instructor: airplane single-engine; instructor: instrument airplane; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 7,900 hours in all; 700 in this make and model; 270 in the last 90 days; 100 in the last 30 days; 7,750 as pilot in command; 992 on instruments
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 13,988 hours
- Last inspection: 100-hour inspection, January 31, 1997; 81 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 7,000 lb
- Seats: 8
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Lycoming TIO-540-J2BD (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: IAN Kiana AK at 10:22 pm
- Destination: OTZ
- Flight plan: VFR
- Runway 35, 3,896 ft by 50 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 310° at 14 knots
- Visibility: 35 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 14°F (-10°C), dew point 5°F (-15°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 11:51 pm from OTZ
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 | |||
| Passengers | 2 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Other NTSB records under N3542H the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.