20200604011789I

Incident · Minor damage

FAA incident report · Piper PA-28-161 · Owasso, OK · June 4, 2020

Date
June 4, 2020 · 12:45 local
Place
Owasso, OK
Airport
Gundy'S Airport
Phase of flight
Landing: Rollout
Operating rules
General operating rules (Part 91)
Damage
Minor damage
Aircraft
N3572Z
Reported as
Piper PA-28-161
Reported engine
Lycoming 0-320 series
People aboard
2
Fatal injuries
0
Other injuries
0
Pilot’s certificates
Commercial pilot, flight instructor
Pilot’s flight hours
3,116 total292 in this make and model61 in the last 90 days

From the FAA’s Accident/Incident Data System (AIDS), through its Aviation Safety Information Portal, as reported. The NTSB investigates accidents separately, and its record of an accident is the fuller one. The aircraft is matched to the registry by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

What happened

The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.

The flight instructor and student were returning to the home airport after successful cross wind training at tulsa international airport (ktul). The instructor aided the student throughout the final approach to O38. The aircraft landed normally and on initial brake application the instructor stated a loud "pop" was heard. The right wing began to drop due to the separation of the r/h gear strut from the main spar. The aircraft drifted right of centerline on the end of the roll-out resulting in the r/h wing in the grass off of the asphalt surface.

Upon investigation all eight 1/4" an fasteners had failed allowing r/h main strut separation. No bolt hole were torn or exhibited failure evidence. This aircraft is a training aircraft and has a significant amount of flight time. From the evidence of the limited fasteners retrieved it appears fatigue may have been a factor.

As the FAA filed it

THE FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR AND STUDENT WERE RETURNING TO THE HOME AIRPORT AFTER SUCCESSFUL CROSS WIND TRAINING AT TULSA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (KTUL). THE INSTRUCTOR AIDED THE STUDENT THROUGHOUT THE FINAL APPROACH TO O38. THE AIRCRAFT LANDED NORMALLY AND ON INITIAL BRAKE APPLICATION THE INSTRUCTOR STATED A LOUD "POP" WAS HEARD. THE RIGHT WING BEGAN TO DROP DUE TO THE SEPARATION OF THE R/H GEAR STRUT FROM THE MAIN SPAR. THE AIRCRAFT DRIFTED RIGHT OF CENTERLINE ON THE END OF THE ROLL-OUT RESULTING IN THE R/H WING IN THE GRASS OFF OF THE ASPHALT SURFACE.

UPON INVESTIGATION ALL EIGHT 1/4" AN FASTENERS HAD FAILED ALLOWING R/H MAIN STRUT SEPARATION. NO BOLT HOLE WERE TORN OR EXHIBITED FAILURE EVIDENCE. THIS AIRCRAFT IS A TRAINING AIRCRAFT AND HAS A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF FLIGHT TIME. FROM THE EVIDENCE OF THE LIMITED FASTENERS RETRIEVED IT APPEARS FATIGUE MAY HAVE BEEN A FACTOR.