Pilot Debrief

PIPER PA28 near Poughkeepsie, NY — 2016-06-24

Final reportERA16LA234
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Date
2016-06-24
Location
Poughkeepsie, NY, USA
Airport
POU
Aircraft
PIPER PA28
Registration
N3024C
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
None
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Taxi

Probable cause

An overstress failure of the left main landing gear attachment bolts, which resulted in the left main landing gear collapse.

NTSB narrative

The flight instructor stated that, while taxiing after landing from the instructional flight, the airplane started to veer to the left, and he heard a "metallic sound." Shortly after, the left main landing gear collapsed, and the airplane came to a stop. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the left main landing gear strut separated from the wing attachment; the bolts attaching the landing gear to the spar were sheared in the vicinity of the bolt threads. The fracture features of the bolts displayed signatures of overstress failure. It could not be determined whether the overstress fracture of the bolts occurred during the accident flight or during a previous unreported event.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Mechanical failure

NTSB coding

Evidence available

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

Docket documents3

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