Accident Piper PA-28-181 N3060B,
ASN logo
ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 290117
 
This information is added by users of ASN. Neither ASN nor the Flight Safety Foundation are responsible for the completeness or correctness of this information. If you feel this information is incomplete or incorrect, you can submit corrected information.

Date:Sunday 7 April 2013
Time:14:40 LT
Type:Silhouette image of generic P28A model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different    
Piper PA-28-181
Owner/operator:Triad Air Inc
Registration: N3060B
MSN: 28-7990139
Year of manufacture:1978
Total airframe hrs:6813 hours
Engine model:Lycoming O-360
Fatalities:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage: Substantial
Category:Accident
Location:Winston Salem, North Carolina -   United States of America
Phase: Standing
Nature:Training
Departure airport:Asheville Regional Airport, NC (AVL/KAVL)
Destination airport:Winston-Salem-Smith-Reynolds Airport, NC (INT/KINT)
Investigating agency: NTSB
Confidence Rating: Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Narrative:
While landing in gusty wind conditions, the fixed right main landing gear collapsed during rollout. Metallurgical examination of the right main landing gear trunion revealed extensive wear, fretting, hole elongation, and disturbed metal around the holes of the lower trunion flange. Additionally, two bolt heads were recovered from the lower flange holes and exhibited fatigue at their respective fracture surfaces. The bolt fatigue, in conjunction with the excessive wear and damage at the lower flange, was consistent with bolt looseness and wear over a period of time.

According to the airplane manufacturer, similar events involved airplanes used for student pilot training, such as the accident airplane, which experienced a previous hard landing that went unreported. The damage could then propagate over time, but it was difficult to tell if the initiating hard landing occurred months or years before the actual landing gear failure. However, mechanics commonly check the bolts during annual and 100-hour inspections. Specifically, they check the condition and security by verifying the proper exposed thread count and that the cotter pins were in place. The accident airplane's most recent annual inspection was completed about 3 months before the accident and the airplane had flown about 51 hours since that inspection. The two mechanics who performed the most recent annual inspection reported that the bolts were visually inspected and attempts were made to check retention and security of the hardware with tools; however, the nuts were in an area that was difficult to access with tools. It could not be determined if the wear began before or after the most recent annual inspection.

Probable Cause: Fatigue failure of the right main landing gear attach bolts due to an unreported hard landing at an unknown time, and subsequent collapse of the landing gear.

Accident investigation:
cover
  
Investigating agency: NTSB
Report number: ERA13LA197
Status: Investigation completed
Duration: 4 months
Download report: Final report

Sources:

NTSB ERA13LA197

History of this aircraft

Other occurrences involving this aircraft
27 April 2019 N3060B Triad Air Inc 0 Smith Reynolds Airport (KINT), Winston Salem, NC sub
Runway excursion

Location

Revision history:

Date/timeContributorUpdates
06-Oct-2022 11:03 ASN Update Bot Added

Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description

The Aviation Safety Network is an exclusive service provided by:
Quick Links:

CONNECT WITH US: FSF on social media FSF Facebook FSF Twitter FSF Youtube FSF LinkedIn FSF Instagram

©2024 Flight Safety Foundation

1920 Ballenger Av, 4th Fl.
Alexandria, Virginia 22314
www.FlightSafety.org