Red Lodge Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Red Lodge, Montana 59068
Friday, April 5, 2002 19:10 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot executed a normal 20-degree flap landing in calm wind conditions to the 4,000 foot long runway. During the rollout the nose wheel of the Cessna 182E separated and the aircraft veered left off the runway. Post-crash metallurgical examination of the nose gear fork fracture surface revealed thumbnail features typical of fatigue cracking that emanated from five different fracture planes. The fatigue regions were very smooth, contained crack arrest positions, and were darkly discolored. The exterior surface of the fork showed no evidence of corrosion pitting or mechanical damage adjacent to the fatigue regions.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Long term fatigue of the nose landing gear strut fork initiated by side loading which resulted in the separation of the fork from the strut and the consequent collapse of the nose gear. A contributing factor was the ditch the aircraft traversed during the ground roll.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 4/5/2002
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1910
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City Red Lodge
Event State MONTANA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 59068
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 4
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 451115N
Event Location Longitude 1091602W
Event Location Airport Red Lodge
Event Location Nearest Airport ID RED
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 5763
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1915 Mountain Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 150
Weather Observation Facility ID COD
Elevation of weather observation facility 5098
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 41
Time Zone of the weather observation MST
Lighting Conditions Dusk
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 13
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -8
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 240
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 4
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.87
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 13221
NTSB Notification Source FAA SEA ROC
NTSB Notification Date Apr 6 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 2051
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Apr 18 2003 4:34PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office HELENA FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N3184Y
NTSB Number SEA02FA064
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 182E
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 18254184
Certified Max Gross Weight 2800
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 Aug 23 2001 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 90
Airframe Hours 6089
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Kraynick, Michael J.
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Hailey
Aircraft Owner State ID
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 83333
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Allen, Bruce L.
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Hailey
Operator State ID
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 83333
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) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code SUN
Departure City Hailey
Departure State ID
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1710
Departure Time Zone MST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code RED
Destination City Red Lodge
Destination State MT
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - roll
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Feb 28 2003 5:04PM
User who most recently changed record STAM
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 16
Runway Length 4000
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --