Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Sussex County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Georgetown, Delaware 19947
Sunday, September 4, 2011 17:45 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to both pilots, they landed the airplane and felt the right wing drop during the landing roll. They attempted to maintain directional control, but the right wing dropped further and the airplane veered off of the right side of the runway. During a subsequent examination of the wreckage, the right main landing gear shock strut drag arm was found broken. An examination of the broken drag arm revealed that it fractured in the I-beam at the blend radius of an orthogonal arm due to bending fatigue. Given the extent of fatigue crack propagation in the flange of the I-beam, it is likely that the fracture occurred due to high-cycle, low-stress fatigue. Since the depth of the fatigue crack was significant relative to the I-beam flange thickness, the fatigue crack probably developed and propagated over a long time under numerous low-stress cycles. The most recent inspection of the main landing gear was on July 7, 2011, which was in accordance with a conditional inspection. The inspection required a mechanic to verify the condition and security of the main landing gear. It is most likely that the fatigue crack would have been detectable at the time of that inspection.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Maintenance personnel's inadequate examination of the main landing gear during the airplane’s most recent conditional inspection, which resulted in the fatigue failure of the right main landing gear shock strut drag arm during the landing roll.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/4/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1745 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Georgetown |
| Event State | DELAWARE |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 19947 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 384110N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0752118W |
| Event Location Airport | Sussex County Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | GED |
| 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 | 53 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1754 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GED |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 53 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| 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) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 19 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 200 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.86 |
| 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 | 5 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 30063 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Eastern ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 3 2012 5:04PM |
| User who most recently changed record | gots |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9079Z |
| NTSB Number | ERA11LA484 |
| 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 | NORTH AMERICAN |
| Aircraft Model | TB-25N |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 44-30734 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 28800 |
| 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 | 8 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 11 2011 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 2242 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | RAG WINGS & RADIALS AIRCRAFT LEASING LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | WILMINGTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19810-4902 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | RAG WINGS & RADIALS AIRCRAFT LEASING LLC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | WILMINGTON |
| Operator State | DE |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 19810-4902 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | NHK |
| Departure City | Patuxent River |
| Departure State | MD |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1700 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | GED |
| Destination City | Georgetown |
| Destination State | DE |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 3 2012 5:05PM |
| User who most recently changed record | gots |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 22 |
| Runway Length | 5000 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |