Pilot Debrief

CIRRUS DESIGN CORP SR22T near Paso Robles, CA — 2015-11-07

Final reportWPR16IA025
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Date
2015-11-07
Location
Paso Robles, CA, USA
Airport
PRB
Aircraft
CIRRUS DESIGN CORP SR22T
Registration
N999VX
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
None
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Landing

Probable cause

The failure of the nose landing gear due to unanticipated fatigue loads.

NTSB narrative

The student pilot was landing the airplane when, during the landing roll, the nose landing gear collapsed. Examination revealed that the nose landing gear had separated, and metallurgical testing showed that the failure was the result of high stress fatigue cracking due to sideways bending from one side. The crack was through the strut tube located at the forward edges (toes) of the gusset tube where it welds to the main strut tube. No other anomalies were identified with the landing gear. Further testing revealed that shimmy events or nonstandard towing procedures could result in the cracks and eventual separation of the nose gear. Similar incidents have occurred involving the same nosewheel design. As a result, the airplane manufacturer released a service bulletin to inspect for cracking and a service advisory related to appropriate towing procedures. Additionally, the manufacturer updated the design of the nose landing gear to increase the strength of the strut tube.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Mechanical failure
First missed decision gate
Inspection of nose landing gear for cracks before flight could have prevented failure.

NTSB coding

  • Landing gear collapse · Landing-landing roll

Evidence available

  • FDR / data
  • Photos
  • 8 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents8

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