Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Columbia Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Columbia, California 95310
Thursday, June 11, 2009 12:22 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that after a normal touchdown on runway 17, the airplane suddenly veered to the left. The pilot applied right rudder and right brake, which had no effect. The left main landing gear collapsed, and the left wing impacted the ground. The airplane continued to the left and exited the runway onto a grassy area. There was structural damage to the left wing, aileron, and flap. Post-accident examination of the airplane revealed that the left main landing gear drag link had separated at the junction of the upper and lower drag links, and the landing gear strut had folded forward. The drag link appeared to be the original part installed during manufacture of the airplane in 1950. Examination of the separation surfaces on the drag link revealed that the drag link fractured due to overstress. Most of the fracture surface appeared to be newly created indicating the majority of the overstress fracture occurred at the time of the landing. However, well-developed corrosion-product film was identified on a small portion of the fracture surface indicating this portion of the overstress fracture had occurred at an earlier time. The pilot reported that the landing gear was most recently inspected during the annual inspection about 1 month before the accident with no discrepancies noted. A small crack (corresponding to the corroded portion of the fracture surface) was likely present on the drag link at the time of this inspection, but it was not discovered.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the left main landing gear drag link as a result of overstress fracture. Contributing to the accident was maintenance personnel's failure to detect a small crack in the left main landing gear drag link during the most recent annual inspection.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/11/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1222 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Columbia |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95310 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 380149N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1202452W |
| Event Location Airport | Columbia Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | O22 |
| 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 | 2118 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1220 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | O22 |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2118 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3700 |
| 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) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 10 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 200 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.97 |
| 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) | 26479 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 22 2009 3:36PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6561N |
| NTSB Number | WPR09LA290 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | BELLANCA |
| Aircraft Model | 14-19 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2014 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2600 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 10 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 27 |
| Airframe Hours | 2761 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Jonathan M. Baron |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Charlottesville |
| Aircraft Owner State | VA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 22903 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Jonathan M. Baron |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Charlottesville |
| Operator State | VA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 22903 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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 | 0L7 |
| Departure City | Jean |
| Departure State | NV |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1010 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | O22 |
| Destination City | Columbia |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 22 2009 3:43PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 17 |
| Runway Length | 4670 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |