- Date
- April 29, 2024, 13:20 local (18:20 UTC)
- Place
- Castroville, TX
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N822CHBaby Great Lakes -
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Sys/Comp malf/fail (non-power)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20240429003859A
- Case key
- 194175
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 failure of the right main landing gear axle due to multiple fatigue crack initiation points joining into a single larger crack.
Findings · 3
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot reported that he thought he struck a pothole while landing on the grass runway. During the landing sequence, the airplane experienced a postimpact fire, and the airplane was destroyed. The pilot sustained thermal injuries and was hospitalized for an extended time period. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed the right main landing gear axle had fractured during the landing sequence, and the landing gear leg punctured the fuel tank which likely contributed to the postimpact fire. Metallurgical examination revealed a series of ratchet marks consistent with multiple fatigue crack initiation points joining into a single larger crack on the right main landing gear axle. The fatigue crack extended across about 30% of the cross section of the tube before final failure due to overstress. The locations of the fatigue initiation points were consistent with the cyclic bending forces that would have been applied to this section of the landing gear under normal landing and takeoff conditions.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N822CH
- Reported as
- Baby Great Lakes -
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 350B
- Airframe hours
- 304
- Engine
- Lycoming O-290G, 135 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · July 26, 2023
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- CVB · Castroville Muni, runway 16, 5,001 × 75 ft, grass/turf
- Equipment
- Electronic flight bag or handheld device
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
- 56
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Sport pilot, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- November 28, 2022
- Seat
- Center
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 1,242 total · 383 in this make and model · 1,242 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 150° at 8 knots, gusting 15
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 10,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 86 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.86 inHg
- Observed at
- KHDO, 17 nm away
- METAR
- KHDO 291851Z AUTO 15008G15KT 10SM FEW042 SCT050 BKN100 30/19 A2986 RMK AO2 SLP098 T03000189
Docket · 6
The files NTSB released with the investigation on September 4, 2024, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 6.0 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.