- Date
- September 8, 1996, 12:16 local (20:16 UTC)
- Place
- Talkeetna, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N9515GCessna 206F
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 25, 1997
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19960908029889A
- Case key
- 2902
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 disconnection of the nosegear scissors assembly due to the loss of a retainer bolt.
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 reported that shortly after a normal touchdown on a paved runway, the nosegear suddenly collapsed. An examination of the nosegear assembly disclosed that nosegear drag link scissors assembly was disconnected, and that the retaining bolt connecting the scissors halves was missing. The loss of the bolt and the separation of the scissors allowed the nosewheel to caster freely. The nosegear was equipped with an oversized, 8:50 by 10 inch tire, and larger than standard nose fork.
Factual narrative
On September 8, 1996, about 1216 Alaska daylight time, a wheel equipped Cessna 206F airplane, N9515G, sustained substantial damage while landing at the Talkeetna Airport, Talkeetna, Alaska. The airline transport certificated pilot and the sole passenger aboard were not injured. The local, 14 CFR Part 91 flight operated in visual meteorological conditions.
During a telephone conversation with the NTSB investigator-in-charge on September 12, the pilot related he had departed the Talkeetna airport for a short flight to Bald Mountain. The purpose of the flight was to assess the short landing strip located at Bald Mountain, and to see if the pilot thought the airstrip was suitable to haul fuel into to support a generator operated by a utility company. The pilot stated the landing at Bald Mountain was uneventful. He said he did an initial touch and go landing, and then made another, full stop landing. He said he walked the airstrip, and that the biggest rocks were about the size of a man's fist. He said he thought the airstrip would be okay to haul fuel to. The pilot said the takeoff from Bald Mountain was normal, but upon touchdown at Talkeetna, the airplane's nosewheel made a screeching sound as soon as it touched the runway. The nosewheel subsequently collapsed, and the right wing struck the ground.
Examination of the airplane's nosewheel landing gear by the pilot and FAA inspectors, disclosed a fractured nosewheel scissors drag link. The castellated nut which assists in holding the scissors links together was missing, and the pilot believes that the nut may have sheared prior to touchdown, allowing the bolt to fall out and the steerable nosewheel to caster freely. An FAA inspector and the pilot both noted the nosewheel tire appears to have a wear pattern which is consistent with the lower nosegear drag link rubbing against the nosegear tire.
The nosegear fork was a larger than standard fork, and the nosegear tire was an oversized, 8:50 by 10 inch tire.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9515G
- Reported as
- Cessna 206F
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- U20601715
- Airframe hours
- 3,760
- Engine
- Continental IO-520-F, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Robert J. Priewe
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · August 31, 1996 · 7 hours before
- Departed
- TKA
- Airport
- TKA · Talkeetna, runway 36, 3,500 × 75 ft, asphalt
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
- 45
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 20,000 total · 2,000 in this make and model · 18,000 as pilot in command · 70 in the last 90 days · 40 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 90 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 61 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.