Gallatin Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Bozeman, Montana 59715
Thursday, June 24, 2004 15:10 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During the landing roll, the pilot was applying heavy braking in order to turn off the runway at taxiway Echo, when the aircraft suddenly and rapidly ground-looped to the left. An initial post-accident inspection of the aircraft revealed that the right main gear brake rotor assembly had torn lose from the wheel itself, rendering the right wheel brake totally inoperative. The wheel hub and brake disk assembly were shipped to the NTSB Materials Laboratory, where it was determined that the brake disk attachment flange failed in fatigue in the bend around the attachment flange. The brake disk showed a substantial amount of general corrosion, and although the attachment flange met the minimum thickness requirements, most of its surface was covered by corrosion and corrosion pitting. The fatigue crack propagation that eventually lead to the failure had originated in one of these corrosion pits.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The failure of the right main gear brake disk attach flange during the landing roll, due to fatigue cracks emanating from numerous corrosion pits present on the surface of the disk, leading to the right brake becoming totally inoperative, and resulting in a rapid inadvertent ground-loop. Factors include hard braking applied by the pilot in order to turn off the active runway at an early taxiway, and considerable corrosion on the surface of the brake disk flange.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/24/2004
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1510
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City Bozeman
Event State MONTANA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 59715
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 454641N
Event Location Longitude 1110927W
Event Location Airport Gallatin Field
Event Location Nearest Airport ID KBZN
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 4471
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Witness
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 --
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) 20
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 24
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator --
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
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) 18350
NTSB Notification Source FAA Operations Center
NTSB Notification Date Jun 24 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1600
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Sep 13 2005 12:54PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Helena FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N4585F
NTSB Number SEA04LA117
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 185F
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 1851092
Certified Max Gross Weight 3350
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 6
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection --
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Kenneth D. Chapman
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Clayton
Aircraft Owner State WA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 99110
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 --
Departure City --
Departure State --
Departure Country --
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone --
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code BZN
Destination City Bozeman
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 Jun 22 2005 12:06PM
User who most recently changed record STAM
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 30
Runway Length 9003
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --