Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Cordova, Alaska 99574
Saturday, November 5, 2005 10:30 AST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
A commercial certificated pilot in a tundra tire-equipped airplane from a CFR Part 135 operator, under contract to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as a public use flight, was transporting FAA personnel to a navigational facility on a remote island. During the landing roll on a dirt surface runway, the lower end of the left main landing gear strut fractured at the axle bolt holes, where the axle is bolted onto the strut. The fractured end of the left gear strut dug into the ground, the airplane swerved 90 degrees to the left and nosed down, receiving structural damage to the left wingtip and the right main landing gear. The main landing gear is a spring steel strut that is shot peened during manufacture, and is bolted to the fuselage at its upper end. Photographs of the point of separation revealed a vertical fracture, oriented 90 degrees to the span of the gear strut, through the upper axle retaining bolt holes. The fractured surface of the lower end of the strut, containing the axle and brake assembly, had a rough, crystalline appearance with darkening of the metal surface along the outer edges of the strut. The fractured surface of the upper end of the strut, where it dug into the ground, had a smooth polished appearance. Periodic visual inspection of the landing gear is required by 14 CFR Part 43. Neither the manufacturer or the FAA have established service limits (hours or cycles) for the main landing gear strut. Removal of the gear strut for inspection, or the use of nondestructive inspection techniques, is not required by the manufacturer or the FAA. On March 16, 2001, the NTSB recommended that the FAA issue an airworthiness directive (AD) to require an initial and recurring inspection of Cessna main landing gear spring steel struts, using nondestructive inspection techniques. On August 31, 2001, the FAA reported to the NTSB that the current inspection criteria outlined in the Cessna Maintenance Manual are adequate to detect cracks in the main landing gear struts, and that additional airworthiness action is not warranted. On March 25, 2002, the NTSB responded by stating, in part: "The Safety Board continues to believe that a visual inspection alone will not detect cracks in the Cessna main landing gear spring struts. However, the Safety Board acknowledges that the statistical evidence does not warrant issuance of ADs at this time as called for in the Board's recommendation." In the Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report (NTSB Form 6120.1), the pilot indicated that the landing gear strut, Part number 0741001-5, had accrued about 9,000 hours of service. In the optional area of the report: Recommendation (How Could This Accident Have Been Prevented), the pilot wrote: "Put time life [limit] on gear legs."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A fracture and separation of the main landing gear strut during the landing roll, which resulted in a loss of control, and subsequent nose down. Factors contributing to the accident were the manufacturer's and the FAA's insufficient standards/requirements regarding inspection procedures for the main landing gear struts.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/5/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1030 |
| Event Time Zone | Atlantic Standard Time |
| Event City | Cordova |
| Event State | ALASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99574 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 602321N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1460644W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| 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 | 20 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -2 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Light and Variable |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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) | 19797 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Operator |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 7 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 28 2006 1:30PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA-AL-ANC FSDO 03 |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N771X |
| NTSB Number | ANC06TA009 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 185 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1851336 |
| 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 | 5 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 90 |
| Airframe Hours | 11299 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Dorothy Galye Ranney |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Cordova |
| Aircraft Owner State | AK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 99574 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Federal Aviation Administration |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 301 E. 56th |
| Operator City | Anchorage |
| Operator State | AK |
| Operator Country | -- |
| Operator Zip code | 99518 |
| 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) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | PACV |
| Departure City | Cordova |
| Departure State | AK |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1010 |
| Departure Time Zone | AST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Cordova |
| Destination State | AK |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - roll |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 23 2006 10:02AM |
| User who most recently changed record | JOHB |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 090 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |