Smith Valley Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Smith Valley, Nevada 89444
Friday, June 8, 2012 10:15 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot reported that the airplane bounced during the landing, and when it touched down again, it veered to the left. The pilot applied power to abort the landing, but the airplane continued off the left side of the runway surface into sagebrush. Postaccident examination revealed that the right main landing gear strut was transversely fractured through the upper attachment hole for the step bracket. Subsequent metallurgical examination revealed that the fracture surface was indicative of fatigue and originated in an area of corrosion.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The failure of the right main landing gear strut due to corrosion-induced fatigue, which resulted in a runway excursion.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/8/2012
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1015
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Smith Valley
Event State NEVADA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 89444
Event Date Year 2012
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 385000N
Event Location Longitude 1192344W
Event Location Airport Smith Valley
Event Location Nearest Airport ID NV33
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 --
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 953 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID KTVL
Elevation of weather observation facility --
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 --
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) 14
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -17
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 190
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) 30
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) 30875
NTSB Notification Source FAA AWP 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 Dec 19 2012 3:10PM
User who most recently changed record coos
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N1875N
NTSB Number WPR12LA262
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 CESSNA
Aircraft Model 120
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 12119
Certified Max Gross Weight --
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 Aug 8 2011 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 4934
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name Valley View Flyers LLC
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Wellington
Aircraft Owner State NV
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 89444
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Valley View Flyers LLC
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Wellington
Operator State NV
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 89444
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 043
Departure City Yerrington
Departure State NV
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 955
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code NV33
Destination City Smith Valley
Destination State NV
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Dec 19 2012 2:51PM
User who most recently changed record coos
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 16
Runway Length 3200
Runway Width 22
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --