Pilot Debrief

PIPER PA 44-180 near Gaithersburg, MD — 2017-06-09

Final reportERA17LA204
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Date
2017-06-09
Location
Gaithersburg, MD, USA
Airport
GAI
Aircraft
PIPER PA 44-180
Registration
N3020M
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
None
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Landing

Probable cause

The failure of the right main landing gear trunnion bracket due to an undetermined overstress event.

NTSB narrative

According to the flight instructor, after an uneventful training flight, the airplane was returning to home base. After touchdown and during the landing roll, the airplane veered to the right of the centerline and stopped. The instructor exited the airplane and discovered that the right main landing gear had collapsed. Postaccident examination of the landing gear revealed that the right aft main landing gear trunnion bracket had failed and that the wing spar web was damaged. A visual examination of the fracture surfaces revealed that the landing gear trunnion bracket failed during an overstress event. A review of the logbooks did not reveal any recent maintenance to the gear assembly. The investigation could not determine when the overstress event occurred that resulted in the failure of right main landing gear trunnion bracket.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Mechanical failure

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • Photos
  • 5 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents5

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