Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Nantucket Memorial Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Nantucket, Massachusetts 02554
Friday, August 31, 2012 16:30 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
While on approach for a full-stop landing, the pilot extended the landing gear and performed the Before Landing checklist. The airplane landed on its main landing gear, and then, as the pilot lowered the nose, it continued to lower until it contacted the runway. Postincident examination of the airplane revealed that the nose landing gear drag brace failed near the nose landing gear actuator attachment lug due to a fatigue crack. A review of maintenance records revealed that a crack in the nose landing gear drag brace was repaired in June 2011 and that, following the repair, the drag brace had been installed on two other company airplanes. In July 2012, the nose landing gear drag brace was removed from the second airplane for inspection, during which, a 1/8-inch-long shallow crack was found near the actuator attachment lugs. The crack was blended in accordance with Cessna Service Bulletin MEB91-11, Revision 1, and then a fluorescent dye penetrant inspection of the area was performed. The inspection did not detect any further cracks; however, it is likely that, at this time, some portion of the crack remained. After the drag brace was returned to service, it was installed on the incident airplane on August 3, 2012. Subsequently, the nose landing gear drag brace was visually inspected in-situ twice; however, neither inspection identified the fatigue crack. At the time of the incident, the airplane had been operated for about 286 cycles since the crack repair in July 2012, which exceeded the 250-cycle inspection interval specified by MEB91-11R1. It is likely that, if the nose landing gear drag brace had been inspected after 250 landings in accordance with the manufacturer’s service instructions, the crack would have been detected at that time. Additionally, if the operator had incorporated into its maintenance program Supplemental Inspection 32-20-00, which stated, in part, that the nose landing gear drag braces should be inspected using visual and eddy current inspections and that repair or modification of cracked nose landing gear drag braces was not allowed, it is likely that the nose landing gear drag brace would have been removed from service in July 2012.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Company maintenance personnel’s failure to comply with the airplane manufacturer’s service instructions by not removing the cracked drag brace from service nor inspecting the repaired drag brace at the appropriate interval, which resulted in the failure of the nose landing gear drag brace due to fatigue cracking and collapse of the nose landing gear during the landing roll. Contributing to the failure of the nose landing gear drag brace was the failure of the repair station to detect a remaining portion of a crack following repair.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 8/31/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1630 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Nantucket |
| Event State | MASSACHUSETTS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 02554 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 411511N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0700337W |
| Event Location Airport | Nantucket Memorial Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | ACK |
| 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 | 47 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1653 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ACK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 47 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| 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) | 6 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 21 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 230 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 14 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.89 |
| 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 | 10 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 32602 |
| NTSB Notification Source | ANE ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 14 2014 4:15PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N769EA |
| NTSB Number | ERA12IA550 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Minor |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 402C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 402C0303 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 7210 |
| 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 | 10 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 27 2012 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 24 |
| Airframe Hours | 28075 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | HYANNIS AIR SERVICE INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 660 BARNSTABLE RD |
| Aircraft Owner City | HYANNIS |
| Aircraft Owner State | MA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 02601-1927 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | HYANNIS AIR SERVICE INC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 660 BARNSTABLE RD |
| Operator City | HYANNIS |
| Operator State | MA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 02601-1927 |
| Operator Code | HYIA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | HYIA145B |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | Scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | HYA |
| Departure City | Hyannis |
| Departure State | MA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1608 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | ACK |
| Destination City | Nantucket |
| Destination State | MA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 14 2014 4:15PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 24 |
| Runway Length | 6303 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |