- Date
- April 5, 2023, 14:00 local (18:00 UTC)
- Place
- Leesburg, VA · On KJYO Airport
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N880JSCessna 421C
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20230405004459A
- Case key
- 107014
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
Separation of the left man landing gear scissor hardware, which resulted in a loss of directional control and subsequent runway excursion during 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 was landing the airplane and reported that as the main landing gear touched down on the runway the airplane immediately veered to the left. The pilot applied right rudder control input but was unable to control the airplane’s direction. The left main landing gear then collapsed as the airplane departed the runway surface and the airplane came to a stop off the left side of the runway. The airplane’s left wing was substantially damaged during the accident. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector examined the airplane after the accident. He observed that the left main landing gear trunnion was cracked and that the strut had separated from the trunnion. The inspector also found that the hardware connecting the scissor link was missing and that the scissor link did not display damage consistent with a shearing action or other abnormal stress. Given this information it is likely that the hardware securing the scissor was not present at the time of the landing, which allowed the left main landing gear wheel to freely castor about the strut, resulting in the loss of directional control at touchdown.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N880JS
- Reported as
- Cessna 421C
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 421C-0489
- Built
- 1979
- Airframe hours
- 4,873.6
- Engines
- Continental GTSIO-520-L2B, 375 horsepower, reciprocatingContinental GTSIO-520-L2B, 375 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Executive/Corporate · Part 91
- Operator
- Bravo Aviation LLC
- Registered owner
- Bravo Aviation LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 1, 2022
- Departed
- MQY · Smyrna, TN
- Destination
- JYO · Leesburg, VA
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- JYO · Leesburg Exec, runway 17, 5,500 × 100 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
- 42
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- October 15, 2022
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 913 total · 158 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 15 knots, gusting 23
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 32 °F, dew point 32 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- JYO
- METAR
- 1800Z 18015G23 SKC 10SM 30/16 A3000
Docket · 5
The files NTSB released with the investigation on February 22, 2024, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 14.5 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.