Kingman Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Kingman, Arizona 86401
Wednesday, May 1, 2002 18:58 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane ground looped during landing and the left main landing gear strut fractured and separated. The pilot told a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector that the landing gear strut collapsed unexpectedly, and without warning, during the landing roll, and the airplane ground looped to the right. It was not subjected to an abnormal load during landing and the airplane was relatively light with no chemical load aboard and about 1,300 pounds of fuel. The inspector examined the airplane and said the left landing gear leaf broke inside the saddle. There was rust and beach marks in the fracture face indicative of a pre-existing crack. The FAA inspector said the left landing gear strut, a single spring steel leaf, separated in the shoulder area where the strut enters the saddle at the fuselage skin line. The left landing gear wheel was broken in the outboard flange area and the tire was deflated. The tire exhibited deep radial scratch marks on the outboard side wall. The aileron hinge bracket at the left wing tip was bent inboard and striations on the left wing lower surface were oriented spanwise. The left wing outer half-span was bent upward accompanied by compression wrinkling of the upper wing skin. Examination of the fracture by a metallurgical laboratory revealed that the strut met the manufacturer's chemical, hardness, and materials specifications for the component. The fracture through the strut was characterized by two distinct modes. The first was 0.08 inches in depth and 0.37 inches in width and exhibited features consistent with fatigue. The fatigue crack had multiple initiation sites along the top surface in an area that had fretting damage. The remainder of the fracture face displayed gross overload features. According to the laboratory report, the transverse failure of the strut resulted from an overload condition, with high side and drag loads, well in excess of the design ultimate load for the component.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The failure of the pilot to maintain directional control during landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/1/2002
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1858
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Kingman
Event State ARIZONA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 86401
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 5
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 351557N
Event Location Longitude 1135628W
Event Location Airport Kingman
Event Location Nearest Airport ID IGM
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 3449
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1856 Mountain Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID IGM
Elevation of weather observation facility 3449
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation MST
Lighting Conditions Day
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) 17
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -9
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 220
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) 29.82
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) 19535
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date May 1 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Apr 25 2006 11:00AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Las Vegas, Nevada

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N90802
NTSB Number LAX02LA147
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 Air Tractor
Aircraft Model AT-802A
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 92
Certified Max Gross Weight 9200
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 1
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Mar 1 2002 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 33
Airframe Hours 1107
ELT Installed --
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name William R. Dare
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Ft. Mohave Indian Res.
Aircraft Owner State AZ
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 86440
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 --
Other Operator of large aircraft? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation Agriculture
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) Positioning
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code A09
Departure City Bullhead City
Departure State AZ
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1840
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code IGM
Destination City Kingman
Destination State AZ
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - roll
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Jan 19 2006 2:04PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 21
Runway Length 6831
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --