Pilot Debrief

CESSNA 340 near McKinney, TX — 2017-09-09

Final reportCEN17LA351
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Date
2017-09-09
Location
McKinney, TX, USA
Airport
KTKI
Aircraft
CESSNA 340
Registration
N5870M
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
None
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Landing

Probable cause

The failure of the bell crank pivot bolt which resulted in the left main landing gear collapse. Contributing to the accident was the lack of landing gear inspections in accordance with the airplane manufacturer's maintenance manuals.

NTSB narrative

After a cross-country flight and during the landing roll at the destination airport, the airplane's left main landing gear collapsed, causing substantial damage to the aileron. An examination of the landing gear found the bell crank pivot bolt and gear down-lock broken. A review of the airplane's maintenance manual revealed that the landing gear system is to be disassembled/inspected every 10 years/5,000 landings, after an initial inspection after 20 years or 10,000 landings. Additionally, the maintenance manual indicates that the main landing gear bell crank pivot bolt is to be inspected for wear every 3 years (or 500 landings), after an initial inspection at 3 years or 1,000 landings. A review of the airplane maintenance records did not reveal an entry were the landing gear inspections had been accomplished. The records revealed the airframe had accumulated 5,799.3 hours at the time of the last annual inspection, that was dated September 1, 2016. It's likely that the landing gear pivot bolt developed a crack over time, which then failed during landing, causing the gear to collapse.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Mechanical failure
First missed decision gate
Landing gear inspections were not completed as required by maintenance manual.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • 3 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents3

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