Burlington Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Burlington, Vermont 05403
Tuesady, October 2, 2012 9:00 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot reported that he landed the multiengine airplane without incident; however, while taxiing after landing, the left main landing gear collapsed, which resulted in substantial damage to the left wing and left horizontal stabilizer. Subsequent examination of the airplane revealed that the left main landing gear bellcrank pin had separated from its bushing. The pin was not located; however, metallurgical examination of the left main landing gear bellcrank and retraction link revealed significant deformation and fracturing of the bellcrank bushing, which was consistent with a very large force applied along the axis of the link. The deformations on the link suggested that the pin fractured inside the hole and exited the bore as two separate pieces. Although an overstress failure seems probable, other failure modes, such as a significant fatigue crack cannot be ruled out because the fractured pin fragments were not located. The airplane was manufactured about 38 years before the accident. It had been operated for about 3,675 total hours, about 25 hours of which occurred since its most recent annual inspection, which was performed about 2 months earlier.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The collapse of the left main landing gear due to a failure of the left main gear bellcrank pin for reasons that could not be determined because the pieces of the fractured bellcrank pin were not located.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/2/2012
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 900
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Burlington
Event State VERMONT
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 05403
Event Date Year 2012
Event Date Month 10
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 442818N
Event Location Longitude 0730911W
Event Location Airport Burlington
Event Location Nearest Airport ID BTV
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport 0
Airport Elevation 335
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 854 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID BTV
Elevation of weather observation facility 335
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 8500
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions --
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) 14
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 11
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 180
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 6
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.01
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 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 32041
NTSB Notification Source Portland FSDO
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Nov 19 2013 4:43PM
User who most recently changed record kenj
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N8025M
NTSB Number ERA13LA005
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 CESSNA
Aircraft Model 310I
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 310I0025
Certified Max Gross Weight 5100
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 6
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Aug 8 2012 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 25
Airframe Hours 3675
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name Kyle B. Clark
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Underhill
Aircraft Owner State VT
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 05489
Operator is an individual? Yes
Operator Name Kyle B. Clark
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Underhill
Operator State VT
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 05489
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? --
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 Yes
Departure Airport Code BTV
Departure City Burlington
Departure State VT
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code BTV
Destination City Burlington
Destination State VT
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Nov 19 2013 4:44PM
User who most recently changed record kenj
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 15
Runway Length 8320
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --