Glendale Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Glendale, Arizona 85307
Thursday, July 30, 2009 15:30 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The flight instructor reported that the landing gear warning horn went off while taxiing to the ramp at the conclusion of the instructional flight. After checking that the landing gear handle was down and bringing the airplane to a complete stop, the left main landing gear collapsed, which resulted in substantial damage to the left wing. A subsequent examination of the left main landing gear system revealed that the side frame assembly was the latest enhanced version and had failed as a result of fatigue, consistent with the stresses developed from the bending moments applied to the down tube during the normal extension and retraction of the main landing gear, as well as during takeoff, landing, and taxiing. A search of the relevant data bases disclosed no other reports of similar failures in the new enhanced version of the part.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The fatigue failure of the left main landing gear enhanced side brace assembly.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/30/2009
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1530
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City Glendale
Event State ARIZONA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 85307
Event Date Year 2009
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 333150N
Event Location Longitude 1121736W
Event Location Airport Glendale Municipal Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID GEU
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 1071
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1547 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID GEU
Elevation of weather observation facility 1071
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 15000
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) 20
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 41
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 9
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 240
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 4
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.76
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) 26940
NTSB Notification Source Regional Operations Center
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record May 10 2010 7:13PM
User who most recently changed record stam
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N83ER
NTSB Number WPR09LA383
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 BEECH
Aircraft Model 76
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number ME-201
Certified Max Gross Weight 3916
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 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jul 24 2009 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 20
Airframe Hours 13089
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name Christiansen Aviation Inc
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Wilmington
Aircraft Owner State DE
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 19810
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Air Safety Flight Academy
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Glendale
Operator State AZ
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 85307
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) Instructional
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code GEU
Departure City Glendale
Departure State AZ
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1330
Departure Time Zone MST
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code GEU
Destination City Glendale
Destination State AZ
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record May 10 2010 7:13PM
User who most recently changed record stam
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location 19
Runway Length 7150
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --