Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Freehold Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Freehold, New York 12431
Friday, June 18, 2010 16:30 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The student pilot was practicing landings in a special light sport aircraft on an asphalt runway. After a soft touchdown, the nosegear collapsed and the airplane skidded approximately 30 feet before coming to rest on the runway. Examination of the wreckage revealed damage to the forward fuselage and firewall. The nosegear fork assembly separated from the nosegear strut on one end, and separated from the nosewheel on the other end. Further examination of the nosegear assembly revealed the fork of the assembly consisted of two aluminum fork leaves riveted together, which exhibited cracks. The inner fork leaf, which extended further than the outer leaf, had through holes for the wheel’s axle. The inner fork leaf was found to also have cracks on the side opposite the one that had separated. Microscopic examination revealed that the fractures on both pieces of the inner fork leaf were due to fatigue that initiated at multiple origins. Collectively, the fatigue cracks went through the thickness of the fork leaf. The large number of fatigue cracks was consistent with the nose gear fork assembly deteriorating for an extended period of time. The cracks were of a size that could be identified by visual examination. The nosegear strut exhibited slant fractures consistent with overstress. The airplane's most recent annual inspection was completed about 3 months, and 38 hours of operation, prior to the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the nosegear fork assembly due to fatigue. Contributing to the accident was an inadequate recent annual inspection.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/18/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1630 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Freehold |
| Event State | NEW YORK |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 12431 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 422151N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0740357W |
| Event Location Airport | Freehold Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 1I5 |
| 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 | 440 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1651 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 35 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ALB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 285 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 25 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 10000 |
| 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) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 14 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.04 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 28149 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Pilot |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 28 2011 3:11PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N832LL |
| NTSB Number | ERA10LA330 |
| 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 | CZECH AIRCRAFT WORKS SPOL SRO |
| Aircraft Model | SPORTCRUISER |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 07SC050 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1320 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 25 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 38 |
| Airframe Hours | 1259 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | L&L LIGHT SPORT AVIATION LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | MEDUSA |
| Aircraft Owner State | NY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 12120-1506 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | L&L LIGHT SPORT AVIATION LLC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | MEDUSA |
| Operator State | NY |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 12120-1506 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | 1I5 |
| Departure City | Freehold |
| Departure State | NY |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1625 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | 1I5 |
| Destination City | Freehold |
| Destination State | NY |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 28 2011 3:11PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 12 |
| Runway Length | 2275 |
| Runway Width | 22 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |