- Date
- September 28, 1994, 14:00 local (20:00 UTC)
- Place
- Frederick, CO
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N53844Bellanca 7KCAB
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 7, 1996
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19940928032139A
- Case key
- 19179
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
A fatigue failure of the left main landing gear axle.
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
During landing roll, following a student practice full stall landing, the left main landing gear axle broke and the aircraft nosed over. The safety board's laboratory examination of the fracture provided evidence that the axle failed in fatigue. Research did not provide information to indicate this was a widespread problem.
Factual narrative
On September 28, 1994, at 1400 mountain daylight time, a Bellanca 7KCAB, N53844, sustained substantial damage when the left main landing gear separated during landing roll at a private airstrip near Frederick, Colorado. The pilot and student pilot were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for this local area instructional flight.
Based on a pilot report, the event was originally classified as an incident. It was upgraded to an accident following examination by an FAA airworthiness inspector.
According to the pilot, he was conducting a student training flight and during landing roll, following a practice full stall landing, the left main landing gear axle broke and the aircraft nosed over.
Examination of the axle was conducted by the National Transportation Safety Board Materials Laboratory who found that the axle failed in fatigue. Their report is attached.
A review of FAA Service Difficulty Reports was conducted. This review provided information that over the life of the 7KCAB type aircraft there have been only four previous failures of this type reported by that method. No other information concerning previous failures was found.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N53844
- Reported as
- Bellanca 7KCAB
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 551-76
- Airframe hours
- 1,742
- Engine
- Lycoming AEIO-320-E2B, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Inman Aviation Group, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Aerobatic
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 19, 1994 · 18 hours before
- Airport
- Frederick (Private), runway 36, 2,600 × 60 ft, dirt
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
- 25
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Rear
- Flight hours
- 1,130 total · 67 in this make and model · 1,000 as pilot in command · 135 in the last 90 days · 95 in the last 30 days · 6 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.