Pilot Debrief

MAHER DANIEL J VELOCITY near Worcester, MA — 2016-04-30

Final reportERA16LA177
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Date
2016-04-30
Location
Worcester, MA, USA
Airport
ORH
Aircraft
MAHER DANIEL J VELOCITY
Registration
N7044Q
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
None
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Landing

Probable cause

The overstress failure of the nose landing gear fork assembly.

NTSB narrative

The commercial pilot stated that, immediately after landing the experimental, amateur-built airplane, the nose landing gear (NLG) collapsed. Examination of the NLG revealed that the nosewheel and its mounting fork had separated. Further examination of the NLG fork revealed that it had fractured from overstress. The NLG fork was the original one installed in the airplane. Since that time, the manufacturer had determined that the original design was prone to shimmying, which could result in overstress fractures, and had twice modified the design to eliminate the failure. The new part design had not been installed on the airplane; therefore, the original NLG fork design, which was prone to fracture due to overstress, eventually fractured during the accident landing.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Mechanical failure
First missed decision gate
Modification of the nose landing gear fork was not performed before the flight.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

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

Docket documents4

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