Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Palmer, Alaska 99645
Monday, August 19, 2002 9:00 AKD
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The commercial pilot was landing the tundra-tire equipped airplane atop a mountain ridge. During the landing roll on the rough and uneven terrain, the right main landing gear axle broke allowing the right wheel to separate from the airplane. The airplane pivoted to the right, and the left wing struck the ground. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the wings and fuselage. Following retrieval of the airplane, an FAA airworthiness inspector examined the broken axle. He reported that a visual inspection of the broken landing gear axle revealed that the fracture traveled through a drilled hole in the axle. The FAA inspector said that the drilled hole is used when the airplane has a wheel/ski kit installed. He added that there was a substantial amount of corrosion and rust within and around the fracture surface. The operator reported that the time in service of the failed landing gear axle was about 2,500 hours, and the time since inspection was about 1,800 hours.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The fracture of the right main landing gear axle during landing roll. Factors associated with the accident were corrosion of the landing gear axle, failure of company maintenance personnel to adequately inspect the axle and detect the corrosion, and rough and uneven terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/19/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 900 |
| Event Time Zone | -- |
| Event City | Palmer |
| Event State | ALASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99645 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | -- |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | -- |
| Event Location Latitude | 613500N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1490535W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| 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) | 7 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 300 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 15 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 3500 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 13539 |
| NTSB Notification Source | ANC FAA, ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 19 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1100 |
| 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 | Anchorage FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N897M |
| NTSB Number | ANC02LA099 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Maule |
| Aircraft Model | M-7-235 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 4064C |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2500 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 12 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 20 |
| Airframe Hours | 2484.5 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | GLENN, DAVID HAMILTON |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O.Box 870318 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Wasilla |
| Aircraft Owner State | AK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 99687 |
| 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 | G7HC |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- |
| 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 | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | PAQ |
| Departure City | Palmer |
| Departure State | AK |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 840 |
| Departure Time Zone | ADT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | PAQ |
| Destination City | Palmer |
| Destination State | AK |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - roll |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 14 2003 1:54PM |
| User who most recently changed record | PETL |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |