Chester County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Coatesville, Pennsylvania 19320
Saturday, March 2, 2002 11:40 EST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

While the student pilot was landing on runway 11, about 5 feet above the runway, a gust of wind was encountered, which lifted the right wing. The left main landing gear touched down and the gear spring twisted. The airplane began to drift to the left, and after the CFI "gave the student a second or two to recover from this position," he took the controls. Continuing to veer, the airplane departed the left side of the runway, where the left main landing gear collapsed. The airplane came to rest in a grass area. The left main landing gear spring was retained for further examination. According to the manufacturers technical report of the examination, the tubular spring for the left main landing gear fractured at the inboard end. The inboard end of the spring contained a longitudinal oriented fracture that intersected a fastener hole. The fracture face contained chevron marks typical of an overstress fracture that pointed back to the hole, indicating that the fracture emanated from the fastener hole. No evidence of corrosion was noted on the fracture region. Further examination revealed that the fastener hole contained machining marks and fretting. Review of the airplane's maintenance records revealed that the landing gear struts were removed from the fuselage, and floats were installed, in 1992. After about 2,158 hours of service, the floats were removed, and the original landing gear struts were re-installed. The airplane had accumulated about 3,598 hours of total service. The CFI reported that the winds at the airport, about the time of the accident, were from 180 degrees at 8 knots, gusting to 17 knots.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The student pilot's loss of aircraft control which resulted in a hard landing, and the CFI's delayed remedial action. Factors related to the accident were the fatigue cracks which initiated at the attachment hole on the landing gear strut, and the crosswind conditions.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 3/2/2002
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1140
Event Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Event City Coatesville
Event State PENNSYLVANIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 19320
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 3
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 395859N
Event Location Longitude 0755159W
Event Location Airport Chester County
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 40N
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 660
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1154 Eastern Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 120
Weather Observation Facility ID PHL
Elevation of weather observation facility 38
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 30
Time Zone of the weather observation EST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 20000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 11000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Overcast
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 10
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -3
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 150
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 10
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.53
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 13613
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Mar 19 2001 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1300
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jul 1 2003 9:44AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office FSDO--17 Philadelphia, PA

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N65021
NTSB Number NYC02LA070
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 172P
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 17275670
Certified Max Gross Weight 2650
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 4
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Feb 15 2002 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 20
Airframe Hours 3577
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name David Marvin
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City West Chester
Aircraft Owner State PA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 19382
Operator is an individual? No
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 --
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Instructional
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code N99
Departure City West Chester
Departure State PA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1100
Departure Time Zone EST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code 40N
Destination City Cotesville
Destination State PA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - flare/touchdown
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Feb 21 2003 2:40PM
User who most recently changed record PEAR
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 11
Runway Length 5400
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --