Knox County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Mt. Vernon, Ohio 43050
Saturday, June 29, 2002 16:30 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

Shortly after take-off, the pilot noticed that the left main landing gear strut had broken. The pilot flew to another airport with a longer runway and landed. After touchdown, the airplane skidded on the broken landing gear, then flipped over on its back. Visual examination of the left fuselage-fitting eyelet revealed four distinctive regions that were flat, smooth, and dark in color; properties consistent with pre-existing fatigue cracking. Macroscopically, all four regions showed distinct demarcation lines at the edges of the darker area. Two of the fatigue regions originated on the outer surface of the upper washer and propagated partially through the thickness of the washer. Both fatigue regions showed numerous ratchet marks, consistent with multiple origins of initiation. They were located on the outer edges of the fractured region near the weld beads. Both of the regions appeared highly oxidized and were large in area. One of the regions had numerous ratchet marks indicating multiple origins of initiation, while the other had a very defined single initiation site, and both dark and light fatigue areas. The airframe had accrued a total of 1,440 hours at the time of the accident.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Failure of the left main landing gear attach fitting due to fatigue.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/29/2002
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1630
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City MT. VERNON
Event State OHIO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 43050
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 401943N
Event Location Longitude 0823125W
Event Location Airport Knox County Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 4I3
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 1192
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1651 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 230
Weather Observation Facility ID CMH
Elevation of weather observation facility 815
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 25
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 20000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 6000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 7
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 31
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 18
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 110
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 6
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.14
Density Altitude (feet) 3042
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Minor
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 1
Injury Total None 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 13809
NTSB Notification Source Great Lakes Reg Comm Ctr
NTSB Notification Date Jul 1 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1400
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Aug 26 2003 8:17AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office COLUMBUS FAA/FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number NC763E
NTSB Number IAD02LA065
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 Waco
Aircraft Model ASO
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number A-114
Certified Max Gross Weight 3100
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 3
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jul 3 2001 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 12
Airframe Hours 1440
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name HOGAN BROTHERS OF OHIO
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City MIDDLETOWN
Aircraft Owner State OH
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 45042
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) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code 6G4
Departure City WYNKOOP
Departure State OH
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1600
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code 4I3
Destination City KNOX COUNTY
Destination State OH
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Emergency landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Feb 20 2003 2:12PM
User who most recently changed record COXP
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 10
Runway Length 5001
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --