Jackson Hole Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Jackson, Wyoming 83001
Wednesday, August 18, 2004 12:14 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During landing roll, approximately 10-15 miles per hour, the right main landing gear failed and the airplane came to a stop onto a taxiway. Examination of the airplane revealed the right main landing gear trailing link and wheel assembly separated from the airplane, and a portion of the upper trailing link and axle assembly remained attached to the main trunnion. At the time of the incident, the landing gear assembly had 5,228.5 hours total time, and 3,358 total cycles since new. The trailing link and axle assembly was certified for 44,400 total cycles. Metallurgical examination of the right main landing gear trailing link revealed the failure occurred due to fatigue cracking initiated by an undetected manufacturing defect. The defect was from electrical arcing that produced physical craters on the interior surface of the trailing link and locally changed the microstructure. The craters and changed microstructure served as stress concentrators and would initiate fatigue cracks under the influence of cyclic stresses. Cadmium plating and primer paint covered the defects. The presence of cadmium plating established that the damage had occurred prior to or during the early stages of plating during manufacture.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the failure of the right main landing gear trailing link due to fatigue cracking initiated by an undetected manufacturing defect. A contributing factor was the improper plating process by unknown manufacture personnel.

Event Information

Type of Event Incident
Event Date 8/18/2004
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1214
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City Jackson
Event State WYOMING
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 83001
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 433644N
Event Location Longitude 1104427W
Event Location Airport Jackson Hole Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID JAC
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 6451
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1215 Mountain Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID JAC
Elevation of weather observation facility 6451
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation MDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 7500
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
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) 8
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 10
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 9
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.23
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 4
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 18227
NTSB Notification Source FAA Comm Ctr
NTSB Notification Date Aug 18 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1220
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 Casper, Wyoming

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N961QS
NTSB Number DEN04IA126
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage Minor
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 750
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 750-0061
Certified Max Gross Weight 36000
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 10
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection AAIP
Date of Last Inspection Jul 17 2004 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 90.5
Airframe Hours 5228.5
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name NetJets Sales Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 4111 Bridgeway Ave.
Aircraft Owner City Columbus
Aircraft Owner State OH
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 43219
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 DXTA
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 Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code SJC
Departure City San Jose
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1100
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City Jackson
Destination State WY
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - roll
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred Yes
Date of most recent change to record Jun 28 2005 11:50AM
User who most recently changed record MCBM
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location 19
Runway Length 6300
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --