Beech BE90 accident near Fort Lauderdale, Florida, March 13, 2004
On March 13, 2004 at about 9:50 am local time, a Beech BE90, registered N11FL, was substantially damaged in an accident near Fort Lauderdale, Florida (Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Intl airport). It was flown under charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135). No one was hurt; 7 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
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The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The inadequate inspection of the landing gear system by company maintenance personnel resulting in a crack in the left main landing actuator mount going undetected and collapse of the left landing gear during landing roll when the actuator attachment failed.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- March 13, 2004 · about 9:50 am local time
- Place
- Fort Lauderdale, Florida · Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Intl · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 7 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Beech BE90
- Registration
- N11FL · registry record · serial LJ-301
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Flight · charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The pilot stated, during the approach to the airport he selected the landing gear to the down position. He observed two green lights and the light for the left landing gear was off on the landing gear indication. He informed the tower of the situation and cycled the gear with no change to the indication. He advised the tower he would like to perform a fly-by to have a visual check of the landing gear. The tower approved the low approach. The pilot cycled the landing gear one more time and got three green lights on the landing gear indication. The tower informed the pilot the gear appeared to be down and in place. The pilot requested and received clearance to land on runway 13. The accident airplane landed and rolled approximately 2,000 feet on the runway before the left main landing gear collapsed. The FAA inspector who responded to the accident site stated, the left main gear assembly was found retracted and up into the engine nacelle. The lock down assembly was unlocked and undamaged. The left main landing gear torque link was broken and the left landing gear actuator gearbox assembly was detached from its mount box. The investigating FAA inspector stated, at the time of the accident the accident airplane had accumulated about 148 hours since its last maintenance inspections, on January 3, 2004. That inspection included checking the actuator support brackets for visible damage, wear, cracks, loose or missing rivets. An examination of the fractured left gear actuator support box structure brackets revealed a crack that circumscribes the lower hi-shear rivet holes of the outboard bracket. The operator of the accident airplane stated, during damage assessment, a structural failure of the left main landing gear actuator support box structure was discovered. They suspected the structure had at least one existing crack which allowed the actuator to "float" within the support structure not allowing complete spring compression from the actuator to engage the left main landing gear drag leg hooks.
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: commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 3,900 hours in all; 1,600 in this make and model; 44 in the last 90 days; 22 in the last 30 days; 3,000 as pilot in command
- Last flight review: March 1, 2004
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
- Injury: no injuries
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 14,744.3 hours
- Last inspection: approved inspection programme, January 1, 2004; 164.1 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 9,300 lb
- Seats: 10
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Pratt & Whitney PT6A-20 (turboprop); 0 hours total
- Operator: Execstar Aviation INC
The flight
- Departed from: MMUN Cancun at 6:00 am
- Destination: KFLL Fort Lauderdale FL
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 13, 6,930 ft by 150 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: dawn
- Wind: from 060° at 8 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: broken clouds at 4,500 ft; scat at 3,400 ft
- Temperature: 70°F (21°C), dew point 63°F (17°C)
- Altimeter: 30.14 inHg
- Observation at 8:53 am from KFLL
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 | |||
| Passengers | 6 |
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.
About this page
Everything above comes from the NTSB's public accident database: the narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words, and the coded tables behind its report (pilot, aircraft, flight, weather, injuries, sequence of events) are written out in plain English. Pilots' ages, home towns and medical details are left out on purpose. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, the folder of records gathered during the investigation, shown as the NTSB released them (the NTSB redacts some personal details first) and listed under the NTSB's own titles. This site's own text never names pilots, passengers or anyone else involved. A preliminary report describes what is known soon after the event and can change; the final report, with the probable cause, usually follows one to two years later and this page is refreshed when it does. Case number MIA04LA062.