ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 59838
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| Date: | Saturday 2 May 2009 |
| Time: | c. 17:30 |
| Type: |  Piper PA-30-160 Twin Comanche |
| Owner/operator: | Sunglide 139 CC |
| Registration: | ZS-JCJ |
| MSN: | 30-346 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Location: | Runway 29, Wonderboom Airport, Gauteng -
 South Africa
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Training |
| Departure airport: | Wonderboom Airport, Gauteng (FAWB) |
| Wonderboom Airport, Gauteng (FAWB) | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
The flight instructor and a student were busy with a conversion training flight onto the Piper PA-30 aircraft type. The student stated that several touch-and-go landings carried out during the first flight of the day were uneventful. After they had lunch, they departed on the second flight of the day. On the first touch-and-go landing, the student flared the aircraft too high above the runway and a hard landing followed. The flight instructor then took over control of the aircraft in order to demonstrate to the student what was required from him. The flight instructor attempted to retract the undercarriage, but the gear up light failed to illuminate.
The flight instructor requested a flyby in front of the tower, and the air traffic controller confirmed that the undercarriage appeared up. However, as soon as the flight instructor attempted to select gear down, the undercarriage failed to lock down. The flight instructor then utilised the emergency system to lower the undercarriage, whereafter he performed another flyby. The air traffic controller confirmed that the gear appeared to be down. The aircraft was landed without any further incident and was taxied to the aircraft maintenance organisation’s hanger.
Following an inspection of the undercarriage, the right-hand trunion assembly was found to be cracked. During the investigation process, a discrepancy was noticed in the statements between the aircraft maintenance organisation (AMO) and the pilot under training with regard to the cause of the cracked trunion. The right-hand trunion was sent for metallurgical analysis to determine the failure mode. The metallurgical report concluded that the trunion failed most probably due to a single induced overload force during operation of the aircraft and no clear indications of pre-failure crack formation were detected.
The fact that the metallurgical report concluded that the failure was due to a single overload condition is in line with the evidence of a hard landing, which was initially reported by the flight crew. The flying school held a valid Aviation Training Organisation and Approval Certificate, no. CAA/0274, which was issued on 06 December 2006 with an expiry date of 06 December 2007.
According to available records, the aircraft maintenance organisation (AMO) that certified the last mandatory periodic inspection (MPI) on the aircraft prior to the accident was in possession of a valid AMO Approval, no. 278, with an expiry date of 31 October 2007. The SACAA conducted an audit on the AMO on 5 September 2006.
Probable Cause: The right-hand trunion assembly failed due to overload following a hard landing
Sources:
1. http://www.caa.co.za/Pages/Default.aspxAccidents%20and%20Incidents%20Reports/8308.pdf#search=ZS%2DJCJ
2. http://avcom.co.za/phpBB3//phpBB3/search.php?keywords=ZS-JCJ
3. https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1223274
4. http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/photo/000845733.html
5. http://www.surfacezero.com/g503/showphoto.php?photo=232461&title=piper-pa-30-zs-jcj-twin-comanche-wonderboom-airport-fawb&cat=576
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 29 September 2001 | ZS-JCJ | 0 | RWY 19 FACT | |
||
| 1 June 2007 | ZS-JCJ | Runway 06 at Wonderboom Aerodrome | |
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 04-May-2009 23:03 | Topaz | Added |
| 12-Apr-2017 21:10 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Aircraft type, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 12-Apr-2017 21:11 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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