- Date
- August 31, 1994, 12:10 local (20:10 UTC)
- Place
- Fort Yukon, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N4457BCessna 170B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 9, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Case key
- 2557
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The fatigue failure of the right main landing gear spring.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The pilot landed on the airstrip and during the roll out the right main landing gear collapsed. Examination showed a fatigued area near the center of one of the axle's upper mounting bolt holes. The airplane has been used on skis during the winter months. This flight was associated with a hunt/guide operation. No passengers were on board.
Factual narrative
On August 31, 1994, at 1210 Alaska daylight time, a wheel equipped Cessna 170B airplane, N4457B, registered to and operated by the Pilot, a registered hunting guide, experienced a collapsed main landing gear during landing on an airstrip on the Upper Coleen River, located 100 nautical miles west of Arctic Village, Alaska. The business flight, operating under 14 CFR Part 91, departed a field site in connection with a guided hunting trip. The destination was the accident site. No flight plan was filed and visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured and the airplane was substantially damaged.
According to the pilot, the left main gear leg broke through the wheel axle upper mounting hole. Although the airplane was on wheels at the time of the accident, the airplane has been used on skis extensively during the winter months.
Visual examination of the landing gear leg showed a small area of striations. The striations point to a spot near the center of the upper axle mounting bolt, on the inside of the gear leg.
According to the pilot, the landing gear leg had more than 1500 hours of total time.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4457B
- Reported as
- Cessna 170B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 26801
- Airframe hours
- 5,881
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A1A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Jamieson, David Y.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 21, 1993 · 184 hours before
- Departed
- Field Site, AK
- Airport
- Upper Coleen River
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 50
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 4,900 total · 3,000 in this make and model · 4,840 as pilot in command · 100 in the last 90 days · 60 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 55 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg