- Date
- April 17, 2020, 11:00 local (15:00 UTC)
- Place
- Ahoskie, NC
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N118CRHolmgren Bearhawk
- Defining event
- Landing: Landing gear collapse
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 3, 2020
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20200417004209A
- Case key
- 101179
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 collapse of the right main landing gear during a bounced, crosswind landing.
Findings · 2
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 stated that, during landing roll, the right main landing gear (MLG) collapsed. He added that there were two bolts that secure the right MLG and that he found them both fractured after the accident. The pilot believed that one of the bolts was not properly tightened/torqued and failed first and that the second bolt then failed due to overstress. A witness who was working at the airport at the time of the accident reported that he noticed a small airplane approaching and that it appeared to be "wobbling" as it came in for landing. Upon landing, the airplane "bounced" on the runway, turned left, and departed the runway. The witness was unable to see the entire touchdown because his line of sight was partially obscured by buildings, but he noticed that one wingtip seemed to rise 15 to 20 ft during the bounce. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing, airframe, and tailwheel. A 6-knot crosswind existed at the time of the landing.
Factual narrative
The pilot of the experimental, amateur-built tailwheel airplane was also the owner and maintained it as well. He stated that during landing, the right main landing gear collapsed. He added that there were two bolts that secure the right main landing gear and he found them both fractured after the accident. The pilot believed that one of the bolts was not properly tightened/torqued and failed first, and then the second bolt failed due to overstress. A witness, who was working on that airport at the time, reported that while driving back to the terminal, he noticed a small airplane approaching and it caught his attention as it appeared to be "wobbling" as it came in for landing. It then appeared as if the airplane "bounced" on the runway and departed the left side of the runway. The witness was unable to see the entire airplane touch down due his line of sight being partially obscured by buildings, but he noticed that one wingtip seemed to rise 15 to 20 ft during the "bounce." Examination of the wreckage revealed damage to the right wing, airframe, and tailwheel. The recorded wind at the airport, about 5 minutes before the accident, indicated an 80° left crosswind at 6 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N118CR
- Reported as
- Holmgren Bearhawk
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 88
- Built
- 2013
- Airframe hours
- 169
- Engine
- Lycoming O-540, 250 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · September 18, 2019 · 3 hours before
- Departed
- ROA · Roanoke, VA
- Destination
- ASJ · Ahoskie, NC
- Airport
- ASJ · Tri-County Airport, runway 19, 4,501 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Angle of attack indicator, Heads up display
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
- 78
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine sea, Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- October 29, 2019
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Flight hours
- 16,000 total · 300 in this make and model · 16,000 as pilot in command · 30 in the last 90 days · 12 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 110° at 6 knots
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 59 °F, dew point 39 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.30 inHg
- Observed at
- ASJ
Docket · 5
The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 28, 2020, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.7 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.