- Date
- June 22, 2003, 12:15 local (16:15 UTC)
- Place
- Battle Creek, MI
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N20953Waco ARE
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 30, 2004
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20030622013959A
- Case key
- 57295
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 inadequate material used in the landing gear cross supports leading to its collapse during the landing roll.
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 airplane sustained substantial damage on impact with the runway during landing roll. The pilot reported that weather was clear with winds variable at 5 kts and was not a factor. The pilot stated, "Ground roll continued, aircraft came to the left a bit, inputted a little right rudder to correct. At this point, there was a sudden and strong learch forward. Aircraft quickly came to a stop on the runway, near centerline. Aircraft came to rest in pitched down, left wing low attitude with the left lower wingtip on the ground. ... Upon walking around the airplane, found the left main gear had collapsed and swung completely under the forward fuselage and rested against the right main gear." A post-accident inspection revealed that the left main gear cross-support had failed. An examination revealed that the landing gear cross supports did not show any apparent pre-existing conditions. The metal evident in the exposed crack areas did not have any signs of rust. Subsequent to the accident, the pilot determined that the cross support material used in the landing gear structure was not in accordance with the original design specifications. The original drawings on file at the Smithsonian Institute showed that the original wall thickness was greater than the failed material. The pilot stated that the airplane was repaired using the wall thickness specified in the original drawings.
Factual narrative
On June 22, 2003, about 1215 eastern daylight time, a Waco ARE, N20953, piloted by a private pilot, sustained substantial damage on impact with runway 23 during a landing roll at W K Kellogg Airport (BTL), near Battle Creek, Michigan. The personal flight was operating under 14 CFR Part 91. No flight plan was on file. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The pilot reported no injuries. The flight originated in St Louis, Missouri at 0915 and was landing at BTL at the time of the accident.
The pilot reported:
Weather was clear with winds variable at 5 kts; not a factor. ...
Landing touchdown was smooth, normal, on centerline. Landed on
the mains with the tail down slightly, aircraft tracked straight. As
aircraft continued to slow, the tailwheel was lowered onto the ground.
Ground roll continued, aircraft came to the left a bit, inputted a little
right rudder to correct. At this point, there was a sudden and strong
learch forward. Aircraft quickly came to a stop on the runway, near
centerline. Aircraft came to rest in pitched down, left wing low
attitude with the left lower wingtip on the ground. ... Upon walking
around the airplane, found the left main gear had collapsed and
swung completely under the forward fuselage and rested against the
right main gear.
A Federal Aviation Administration Inspector examined the airplane. The inspector stated:
Further inspection of the landing gear cross supports did not show any
apparent pre-existing conditions to cause failure. The metal evident
in the exposed crack areas did not have any signs of rust.
Subsequent to the accident, the pilot determined that the cross support material used in the landing gear structure was not in accordance with the original design specifications. The original drawings on file at the Smithsonian Institute showed that the original wall thickness was greater than the failed material. The pilot stated that the airplane was repaired using the wall thickness specified in the original drawings.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N20953
- Reported as
- Waco ARE
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 5080
- Engine
- Jacobs L6MB, 330 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Ronald E. Tarrson
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 20, 2003 · 39.5 hours before
- Departed
- 1H0 · St Louis, MO
- Destination
- BTL · Battle Creek, MI
- Airport
- BTL · W K Kellogg, runway 23, 10,003 × 150 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
- 36
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- November 1, 1902
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,176 total · 93 in this make and model · 1,028 as pilot in command · 22 in the last 90 days · 15 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 77 °F, dew point 70 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.05 inHg
- Observed at
- BTL, 1 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.