Pilot Debrief

PIPER PA-28-181 near Upland, CA — 2020-08-19

Final reportWPR20LA306
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Date
2020-08-19
Location
Upland, CA, USA
Airport
CCB
Aircraft
PIPER PA-28-181
Registration
N79MS
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
None
Fatalities
0

Probable cause

The failure of the right landing gear due to fatigue cracking.

NTSB narrative

After landing, as the pilot was taxiing back to the runway for another takeoff, the right landing gear collapsed, and the right wing struck the runway resulting in substantial damage. Examination of the landing gear bolts revealed they failed due to reverse bending fatigue cracking. The size of the fatigue cracking area on the fracture surfaces versus the overstress area indicated the fatigue likely grew over time under low-to-moderate stress. The occurrence of the fatigue cracking on all the hex-head bolts and the similarities of the fatigue cracking areas on the fracture surfaces were consistent with some amount of movement on that side of the landing gear, which indicates there was likely an issue with preloading of the bolts.

NTSB coding

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