- Date
- June 8, 1996, 11:30 local (16:30 UTC)
- Place
- Dumas, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N2004LWeatherly 620B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 16, 1996
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19960608013059A
- Case key
- 19857
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 gear torque link during landing roll as a result of its improper assembly by maintenance personnel.
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
When the aircraft returned from an application flight for landing, upon touch down, it began to nose over and veer to the right. The pilot 'pulled on the stick and got on the left brake,' but the airplane continued to veer right until it exited the runway. The pilot stated that 'when it got to the dirt it dug in and flipped over onto its back (top).' After the pilot got out of the airplane, he found the right main gear perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the aircraft and the right main gear torque link bolt broken. Post-crash examination by the manufacturer revealed that the right main gear torque link assembly had been improperly assembled during a field maintenance procedure.
Factual narrative
On June 8, 1996, at 1130 central daylight time, a Weatherly 620B, N2004L, was substantially damaged during landing at Moore County Airport in Dumas, Texas. The commercial pilot was not injured. The aircraft was registered to the First National Bank of West Texas and operated by a private owner under Title 14 CFR Part 137. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the local aerial application flight which had originated at 1030. A flight plan had not been filed.
The pilot reported the following information in the Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report. When the aircraft returned from an application flight for landing, upon touch down, it began to nose over and veer to the right. The pilot "pulled on the stick and got on the left brake," but the airplane continued to veer right until it exited the runway. The pilot stated that "when it got to the dirt it dug in and flipped over onto its back (top)." After the pilot got out of the airplane, he found the right main gear perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the aircraft and the right main gear torque link bolt broken.
Post-crash examination by the manufacturer revealed that the right main gear torque link assembly had been improperly assembled during a field maintenance procedure, approximately 50 flight hours earlier.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2004L
- Reported as
- Weatherly 620B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 1556
- Airframe hours
- 1,300
- Engine
- P&W R-985-AN, 450 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- David A. Ray
- Registered owner
- First National Bank West Texas
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Departed
- DUX
- Airport
- DUX · Moore County Airport, runway 1, 5,730 × 50 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
- 27
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 1,500 total · 900 in this make and model · 1,400 as pilot in command · 150 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 200° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F, dew point 45 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- DHT, 35 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.