- Date
- December 8, 1991, 17:06 local (22:06 UTC)
- Place
- Leon, WV
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N85JUJohn W Upton SA-300
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 22, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19911208055009A
- Case key
- 11752
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 defective welding between the axle and the wheel assembly causing the right main gear to collapse.
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 was on the second flight of the day in his homebuilt aircraft when the accident occurred. He had departed earlier to practice some aerobatic maneuvers and was returning to the grass strip when during landing the right main wheel separated from the strut. Examination of the aircraft by the FAA revealed that the strut separated from the main wheel due to defective welding. The accident aircraft had a total of 7 hours since overhaul.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N85JU
- Reported as
- John W Upton SA-300
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 002
- Airframe hours
- 959
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A1A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- John W. Upton
- Registered owner
- John W. Upton
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Unknown · January 2, 2000
- Airport
- WV30 · Leon Field
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
- 40
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Rear
- Flight hours
- 503 total · 12 in this make and model · 459 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 210° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 6,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 63 °F, dew point 48 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- CRW, 28 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.