- Date
- March 4, 1989, 12:54 local (17:54 UTC)
- Place
- W. Columbia, SC
- Injuries
- 4 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N601RFCessna 180J
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 11, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890304003059A
- Case key
- 7994
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
Improper torquing of the attachment bolt during installation by unknown person(s), which resulted in the separation of the bolt and nut and subsequent separation of the main landing gear from the airplane.
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 rt main landing gear collapsed and separated from the airplane during ldg rollout. Examination revealed that the AN7-20A attachment bolt & MS20365-720C nut had stripped & separated. The bolt exhibited evidence of having been loose prior to the failure. Examination of the airplane logs revealed no entries pertaining to rt MLG maintenance, or any airframe repairs, which would have required removal & reinstallation of the gear.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N601RF
- Reported as
- Cessna 180J
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18052560
- Airframe hours
- 2,175
- Engine
- Continental O-470-S, 230 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Fox, Reese E.
- Registered owner
- Fox, Reese
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 24, 1989 · 20 hours before
- Departed
- TSO · Carrollton, OH
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- CAE · Columbia Metropolitan
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
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 5,600 total · 1,500 in this make and model · 111 in the last 90 days · 38 in the last 30 days · 9 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 20° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 4 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 1,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 52 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- CAE
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N601RF · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.