Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Gerald R. Ford International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49301
Wednesday, July 28, 2004 20:47 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane sustained substantial damage when the right main landing gear collapsed during landing rollout. The pilot reported that he flew a stabilized full flaps approach with all three green landing gear lights illuminated. He reported that the main landing gear touched down smoothly but when the nose wheel touched down, the right wing started to drop. The pilot kept the right wing up as long as possible, but it settled to the runway when the airspeed slowed. The airplane veered off the left side of the runway. The inspection of the airplane revealed that the upper side brace of the right main landing gear (p/n 45304-2) was fractured through the upper arm at approximately mid-length. An inspection of the fracture surfaces revealed that at one corner of the surface, there was a black region approximately 0.2 inch by 0.2 inch in size. The black region was a casting defect (inclusion). A dark gray region below the casting defect was observed by the use of a scanning electron microscope. The lack of ductile dimples, the multiple ratcheting marks, the difference in color, the fracture plane angle, and the flatness of features at the origin area indicate that the dark gray region below the casting defect was consistent with fatigue cracking. The casting defect region and the fatigue region together consumed approximately 10% of the cross-sectional area of the upper side brace." A search of the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Service Difficulty Reporting System (SDRS) was made for similar reported failures. There were no records pertaining to the Rockwell 114 main landing gear side brace for part numbers 45304-2 or 45306-2.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The right main landing gear failed as a result of the fatigue fracture due to the casting defect (inclusion) during the manufacture process.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/28/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 2047 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Grand Rapids |
| Event State | MICHIGAN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 49301 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 425251N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0853122W |
| Event Location Airport | Gerald R. Ford International |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | GRR |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 793 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1956 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GRR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 793 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 7500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| 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) | 25 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 14 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 240 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.03 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KGRR 282356Z 24007KT 10SM FEW075 SCT230 25/1 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 17118 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 28 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2236 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 27 2005 3:52PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Grand Rapids, MI FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N114TS |
| NTSB Number | CHI04LA199 |
| 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 | Rockwell |
| Aircraft Model | 114 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 14367 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3140 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 2 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 14 |
| Airframe Hours | 2684 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Commander Aviation LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2197 Knollpoint Dr. NE |
| Aircraft Owner City | Ada |
| Aircraft Owner State | MI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 49301 |
| 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 | FLD |
| Departure City | Fond du Lac |
| Departure State | WI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1827 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | GRR |
| Destination City | Grand Rapids |
| Destination State | MI |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | -- |
| User who most recently changed record | -- |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 26R |
| Runway Length | 5000 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |