Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Tri-State Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Huntington, West Virginia 25701
Saturday, March 4, 1995 14:05 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
DURING THE LANDING ROLL AFTER TOUCH DOWN, THE FLIGHT CREW OF THE COMMERCIAL PASSENGER JET NOTICED A VIBRATION THAT INCREASED IN SEVERITY, AS THE AIRPLANE DECELERATED. THIS WAS FOLLOWED BY THE AIRPLANE TILTING AND YAWING LEFT. THE PILOT-IN-COMMAND APPLIED RUDDER AND BRAKING, AND STOPPED THE AIRPLANE NEAR THE CENTER OF THE RUNWAY. EXAMINATION OF THE LEFT MAIN LANDING GEAR (MLG) REVEALED THE UPPER TORQUE HAD FAILED, WHICH ALLOWED THE SLIDING STRUT TO PIVOT, AND THE SUBSEQUENT SEPARATION OF BOTH LEFT MLG WHEELS. A TOLERANCE CHECK OF THE UPPER AND LOWER TORQUE LINKS REVEALED THE CLEVIS LUG AND THE PINTLE PIN CLEARANCES WERE OUT OF SPECIFICATIONS. SEVERAL SMALL FATIGUE CRACKS WERE OBSERVED IN THE VICINITY OF THE TORQUE LINK FRACTURE. INSPECTION CRITERIA REQUIRED THE MLG AND TOLERANCES TO BE CHECKED EVERY 1,150 HOURS, DURING THE 'B' CHECK. THE LAST INSPECTION OF THE LEFT MLG OCCURRED 475 HOURS PRIOR TO THE ACCIDENT. THE AIRPLANE RECORDS REVEALED A RECENT HISTORY OF LANDING GEAR VIBRATIONS.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
THE FATIGUE FRACTURE OF THE LEFT MAIN LANDING GEAR UPPER TORQUE LINK.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 3/4/1995 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1405 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | HUNTINGTON |
| Event State | WEST VIRGINIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 25701 |
| Event Date Year | 1995 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | TRI-STATE |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | HTS |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 828 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1350 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HTS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 828 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3700 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 8 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 190 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 21 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 5027 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 4 1995 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1530 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 7 2000 4:10PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N479AU |
| NTSB Number | NYC95IA065 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 121: Air Carrier |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Minor |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | FOKKER |
| Aircraft Model | F28-4000 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | F28-4000 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 98000 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 0 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 4 1995 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 4 |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | USAIR |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | PITTSBURGH INTL AIRPORT |
| Aircraft Owner City | PITTSBURGH |
| Aircraft Owner State | PA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 15123 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | USAA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | Scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | PIT |
| Departure City | PITTSBURGH |
| Departure State | PA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1315 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | HTS |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 12 |
| Runway Length | 6509 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |