DIAMOND AIRCRAFT IND INC DA 42 near Long Beach, CA — 2022-04-19

Final reportWPR22LA159

Date: 2022-04-19
Location: Long Beach, CA, USA
Airport: LGB
Aircraft: DIAMOND AIRCRAFT IND INC DA 42
Registration: N822SA
Category: Airplane
Highest injury: None
Fatalities: 0
Phase of flight: Landing

Probable cause

The failure of the right main landing gear brace rib for reasons that could not be determined based on available information.

NTSB narrative

The pilot receiving instruction performed a short-field landing to a runway. During the rollout, about 750 ft from the touchdown point, the right main landing gear collapsed, and the right wing contacted the runway, which resulted in substantial damage to the right aileron. A postaccident inspection revealed the right main landing gear brace rib had separated from the wing structure. Examination of the failed components revealed the separation did not occur due to faulty adhesion from the original installation. In addition, an 8- to 10-inch crack was discovered between the upper and lower wing skin bonds to the airplane’s center section spar. That crack would have resulted from some type of force or stress to the airplane, such as a hard landing. However, no hard landings in the airplane had been reported. The airplane had undergone a 100-hour/annual inspection about 3 weeks before the accident, with no reports of damage or faults related to the landing gear. The airplane had been flown for about 35 hours since the inspection by multiple pilots. It is likely that the separation of the right main landing gear support assembly and the crack were initiated by a hard landing that was not reported since the inspection. The condition of the right main landing gear brace rib likely began to deteriorate and the right main landing gear subsequently collapsed during the accident flight.