Pilot Debrief

CESSNA 152 near College Station, TX — 2013-03-26

Final reportCEN13LA209
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Date
2013-03-26
Location
College Station, TX, USA
Airport
CLL
Aircraft
CESSNA 152
Registration
N48693
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
None
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Landing

Probable cause

The failure of the nose landing gear fork during landing due to fatigue.

NTSB narrative

The student pilot performed two touch-and-go landings without incident. During the third landing, the airplane touched down on the main landing gear, and, as the pilot brought the airplane's nose down, the nosewheel collapsed. A postaccident examination of the failed nose landing gear fork revealed that the final overload fracture of the fork started at a fatigue crack at the upper shoulder of the fork, which had propagated for a period of time before the final fracture. The material used to manufacture the fork met the specified engineering requirements.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Mechanical failure

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • 4 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents4

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