MIA05LA079 · Rockwell Aero Commander 500
Rockwell Aero Commander 500 · Accident: airframe, component or system failure during initial climb
From Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport (TJIG) to Benjamin Rivera Noriega Airport (TJCP)
Event
- NTSB case
- MIA05LA079
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
- Completed
- API-reported fatalities
- 0 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- General aviation
- WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
- Visual Meteorological Cond
Rockwell Aero Commander 500
- Aircraft type
- Rockwell AERO COMMANDER 500
- Category
- Airplane
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N8498C
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport (TJIG), San JuanTo Benjamin Rivera Noriega Airport (TJCP), Isla De Culebra, PR
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- Initial climb
- First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- Airframe, component or system failure
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Substantial
Cause areas
- Pilot in command › Checklist, not followed
- Pilot in command › Operation with known deficiencies in equipment, inadvertent
Approximate · Coordinates from the NTSB case API, which marks them as estimated or does not say; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
Maintenance had been performed to the left main landing gear actuator and flexible hoses that connect to it earlier in the week. The mechanic who performed the work did not complete retraction tests of the landing gear and did not approve the airplane for return to service. The pilot stated that braking action was normal during taxiing, but after takeoff, at approximately 1,000 feet above ground level (AGL), the main gear would not retract and he noticed the hydraulic pressure gauge indicating 0 pressure. He selected gear down, observed three green lights, used the hydraulic emergency hand pump, and turned back to the airport. While operating the hydraulic emergency hand pump, he noticed "some pressure" up to 800 psi. While returning to the airport he moved the emergency hand pump selector valve to "brake only" to be able to stop the airplane but reported he did not get any pressure when using the emergency hydraulic pump. On final approach he slowed the airplane to approximately 85 miles per hour, touched down, and started pumping the hydraulic emergency hand pump for the brakes, with no success. Unable to stop the airplane, it collided with a ditch beyond the departure end of the runway. Following recovery of the airplane, the emergency hand pump selector valve was not found in the "brakes only" position. Operation of the hydraulic emergency hand pump with the selector set to "brakes only" revealed hydraulic pressure was produced. NTSB review of the airplane's Maintenance Manual reveals that the emergency hand pump selector valve, located between the pilot and co-pilot seats, provides a means of directing the flow of hand pumped pressure to either the brake system or the normal hydraulic system. With the selector valve in "brakes only" position, only the wheel brake system and nose steering cylinder received hand pump pressure which will not be indicated on the hydraulic pressure gauge.
Probable cause
The failure of the pilot to follow the emergency checklist and his inadvertent operation of the airplane with known discrepancies resulting in landing overrun and on-ground collision with a ditch during the landing roll.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record MIA05LA079
- Event ID
- 20050324X00357
- Case number
- MIA05LA079
- Dataset
- historical-pre2008
- Source SHA-256
- 89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
- Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
- Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status, coordinates. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
- The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
- API snapshot SHA-256: 18b49d087dfba2225749c24a210c7c66db1edae07d340aa9e2cf351eec1329ae; retrieved 2026-09-22T06:12:09.874Z.