# NTSB investigations, 2009: Aircraft structural failure

NTSB aviation accident and incident investigations since 1962: the probable cause, findings, aircraft, crew, weather and docket of each, linked to the FAA registry and the FAA’s own reports.

## Latest cases

- [NTSB ERA10LA107](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA10LA107.md): Maule M5 · LaGrange, GA · Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report · Dec 6, 2009 · N51620 · Substantial damage
  > The failure of the right main landing gear for undetermined reasons.
- [NTSB WPR10LA060](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/WPR10LA060.md): Mcdonnell Douglas Heli 369E · Kahuku, HI · Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report · Nov 20, 2009 · N551CR · Substantial damage
  > The fatigue failure of the landing gear strut and maintenance personnel’s failure to perform an adequate inspection of the landing gear.
- [NTSB ENG10WA004](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ENG10WA004.md): Boeing 737 · Melbourne Airport, Australia · Incident · No injuries · Foreign investigation · Oct 19, 2009 · VH-VUI · Minor damage
  > On October 20, 2009, at 0900 local time, a Virgin Blue Airlines Boeing 737-800 airplane, registration VH-VUI, experienced a failure of the right main landing gear outboard wheel assembly during landing at Melbourne Airport in Melbourne, Australia. No one was…
- [NTSB ENG09RA019](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ENG09RA019.md): Boeing 737 · Kuching, Malaysia · Incident · No injuries · Foreign investigation · Oct 2, 2009 · 9M-MMR · Minor damage
  > On October 2, 2009, about 0818 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) a Malaysia Airlines, Boeing 737-400 airplane, registration 9M-MMR, suffered a collapsed left main landing gear during pushback from the gate at Kuching International Airport, Kuching, Sarawak,…
- [NTSB WPR09LA453](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/WPR09LA453.md): Quad City Challenger II · Redlands, CA · Accident · 2 fatal · Limited investigation · Final report · Sep 16, 2009 · N732LS · Substantial damage
  > Structural failure of the right wing during the landing approach due to the separation of the wing's fabric covering.
- [NTSB ENG09IA014](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ENG09IA014.md): Boeing 737 · Los Angeles, CA · Incident · No injuries · Incident investigation · Final report · Sep 8, 2009 · N670SW · Minor damage
  > The failure of the right main landing gear inboard axle due to fatigue cracking as a result of fretting damage in one of the brake mounting bolt holes.
- [NTSB CEN09LA565](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CEN09LA565.md): Bell UH-1B · Arvilla, ND · Accident · Serious injuries · Limited investigation · Final report · Sep 6, 2009 · N204JB · Substantial damage
  > The aircraft owner/mechanic/pilot's installation of an improper tail boom assembly and the resulting fatigue failure of the tail boom's attach fittings.
- [NTSB ERA09LA492](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA09LA492.md): Bond Neal O S-9 · Saylorsburg, PA · Accident · 1 fatal · Limited investigation · Final report · Aug 30, 2009 · N463NB · Substantial damage
  > The pilot’s excessive flight control inputs that resulted in an overload failure of the right elevator and horizontal stabilizer.
- [NTSB CEN09CA552](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CEN09CA552.md): Cessna 150F · Abilene, KS · Accident · No injuries · Data collection · Final report · Aug 29, 2009 · N8312G · Substantial damage
  > The pilot's inadequate crosswind landing technique, resulting in an excessive side load on the left landing gear that led to an overload failure of its axle.
- [NTSB ANC09LA083](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ANC09LA083.md): Cessna 185 · McCarthy, AK · Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report · Aug 16, 2009 · N8209U · Substantial damage
  > The separation of the right main landing gear wheel from the airplane during landing for undetermined reasons, which resulted in an inability to control the airplane.
- [NTSB WPR09FA391](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/WPR09FA391.md): Navion Navion A · Adrian, OR · Accident · 3 fatal · Field investigation · Final report · Aug 7, 2009 · N4898K · Substantial damage
  > The pilot’s failure to maintain aircraft control while in cruise flight due to spatial disorientation, which resulted in an exceedence of the design stress limits of the aircraft and led to an in-flight structural failure.
- [NTSB CEN09CA521](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CEN09CA521.md): Maule M-4-220C · Abernathy, TX · Accident · No injuries · Data collection · Final report · Jul 25, 2009 · N11EN · Substantial damage
  > The failure of the fuselage's tube structure due to corrosion during a hard landing.
- [NTSB ENG09IA009](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ENG09IA009.md): Boeing 737-3B7 · Charlotte (CLT), NC · Incident · No injuries · Incident investigation · Final report · Jul 15, 2009 · N506AU · Minor damage
  > The failure of the left hand main landing gear was caused by heat induced cracks resulting from abusive grinding/polishing of the chrome plate that was applied during the last overhaul.
- [NTSB DCA09FA065](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/DCA09FA065.md): Boeing 737 · Charleston, WV · Accident · No injuries · Field investigation · Final report · Jul 13, 2009 · N387SW · Substantial damage
  > Fuselage skin failure due to preexisting fatigue at a chemically milled step.
- [NTSB WPR09LA318](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/WPR09LA318.md): Alexander Schleicher ASW 27-18E · Ephrata, WA · Accident · 1 fatal · Limited investigation · Final report · Jun 29, 2009 · N129TD · Substantial damage
  > The pilot’s failure to maintain control of the glider during flight and his exceedance of the glider’s design limits during an attempted recovery from a spin.
- [NTSB CEN09LA379](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CEN09LA379.md): Urban Air Sro UFM-13 · Bourne Stage, TX · Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report · Jun 23, 2009 · N17UA · Substantial damage
  > The pilot’s exceedance of the aircraft’s placarded never-exceed speed (Vne), resulting in aerodynamic flutter in the empennage and the subsequent in-flight structural failure of the aft portion of the fuselage.
- [NTSB WPR09FA234](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/WPR09FA234.md): Upton Bakeng Duce · Ramona, CA · Accident · 2 fatal · Field investigation · Final report · May 9, 2009 · N86YP · Substantial damage
  > An in-flight separation of the right wing, which resulted from the pilot's performance of a maneuver that produced aerodynamic loads that exceeded the wing spar’s degraded strength. The wing spar strength degradation was due to the builder's failure to comply…
- [NTSB ERA09FA273](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA09FA273.md): Explorer Aeronautique Ecoflyer · Lebanon, NY · Accident · 1 fatal · Field investigation · Final report · Apr 27, 2009 · C-IOFL · Substantial damage
  > The in-flight separation of the left wing due to failure of one of the inboard attachments to the fuselage.
- [NTSB CEN09CA268](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CEN09CA268.md): Luscombe 8 · Terrell, TX · Accident · No injuries · Data collection · Final report · Apr 22, 2009 · N2330K · Substantial damage
  > The failure of the landing gear due to undetected corrosion.
- [NTSB WPR09FA141](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/WPR09FA141.md): Stephenson Zodiac 601 XL · Antelope Island, UT · Accident · 1 fatal · Field investigation · Final report · Mar 3, 2009 · N3683X · Substantial damage
  > The in-flight failure of both wings due to aileron flutter. The aileron flutter was the result of inadequate wing stiffness and the lack of aileron counterbalances.
- [NTSB ERA09MA157](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA09MA157.md): Cessna 206H · Quebradillas, PR · Accident · 6 fatal · Major investigation · Final report · Feb 8, 2009 · N118ME · Destroyed
  > The pilot exceeded the design limits of the airplane, which resulted in an in-flight break up while maneuvering in adverse weather conditions.

## The whole list in SQL

Runs in DuckDB 1.2 or later on the release's Parquet files over HTTPS:

```sql
SELECT c."ntsbNumber", c."eventDate", c."eventType", c."eventCity", c."eventStateOrRegion", a.n_number, a."aircraftMake", a."aircraftModel", c."highestInjuryLevel", c."totalFatal", c."completionStatus", c.report_url
FROM 'https://openairdocs.org/data/latest/ntsb_case_detail.parquet' c LEFT JOIN 'https://openairdocs.org/data/latest/ntsb_aircrafts.parquet' a ON a.case_mkey = c."mKey" AND a.position = 1
WHERE year(c."eventDate") = 2009
  AND c."mKey" IN (SELECT e.case_mkey FROM 'https://openairdocs.org/data/latest/ntsb_events.parquet' e WHERE e."isDefiningEvent" AND e."tier2Number" = '337')
ORDER BY c."eventDate" DESC, c."ntsbNumber" DESC
```

This list as a web page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/337/cases?year=2009

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