Homer Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Homer, Alaska 99603
Sunday, July 29, 2012 14:00 AKD

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot was landing the tailwheel-equipped airplane on a dry paved runway. He stated that just after touchdown, he heard a noise and felt the airplane pull to the left. He tried to abort the landing, but noted that the left main landing gear had separated from the fuselage, so he landed the airplane in the grassy area adjacent to the runway. During the landing the airplane sustained minor damage. The spring steel left main landing gear assembly was fractured about 5 inches from the fuselage attach point. Postaccident metallurgical examination revealed that the landing gear leg fractured due to fatigue that initiated from pits on the lower surface of the leg. The pits were filled with brown paint that was covered with white paint. Therefore, it is likely that the pits were formed by corrosion that was not completely removed before the gear leg was repainted.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The failure of the left main landing gear leg due to fatigue. Contributing to the incident was maintenance personnel's failure to completely remove all corrosion before repainting the gear leg.

Event Information

Type of Event Incident
Event Date 7/29/2012
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1400
Event Time Zone --
Event City Homer
Event State ALASKA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 99603
Event Date Year 2012
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 593844N
Event Location Longitude 1512836W
Event Location Airport Homer Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID PAHO
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 1553 Atlantic Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID PAHO
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation ADT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 7000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 5500
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 13
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 7
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 150
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 10
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 19
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.92
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) 31208
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 Jul 3 2013 11:18AM
User who most recently changed record johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N5026B
NTSB Number ANC12IA085
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed Unknown
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Minor
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion --
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name BELLANCA
Aircraft Model 8KCAB
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 442-78
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 Jan 1 2012 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 2314
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name SUPER D LLC
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City ANCHORAGE
Aircraft Owner State AK
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 99516-4267
Operator is an individual? Yes
Operator Name SUPER D LLC
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City ANCHORAGE
Operator State AK
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 99516-4267
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 --
Departure City Anchorage
Departure State AK
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone --
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City Homer
Destination State AK
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Apr 18 2013 7:28PM
User who most recently changed record stam
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location 21
Runway Length 6701
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --