- Date
- October 15, 2006, 14:00 local (21:00 UTC)
- Place
- Chandler, AZ
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N501WMonocoupe 110 Special
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 31, 2007
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20061015024969A
- Case key
- 64715
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 forward left main landing gear attach point resulting in loss of control.
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 70-year-old antique airplane veered off the runway and nosed over when the left landing gear forward attach point failed on touchdown. The airplane nosed over when it encountered the soft sand next to the runway, resulting in substantial damage to the vertical stabilizer. The owner pilot reported that the gear's forward attach point that is located under a fairing appeared to have failed on touchdown. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector examined the failure point, but was unable to determine the mode of failure.
Factual narrative
On October 15, 2006, at 1400 mountain standard time, a Monocoupe 110 Special, N501W, veered off the runway after the left landing gear collapsed during the landing rollout at Chandler Municipal Airport (CHD), Chandler, Arizona. The owner/pilot was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. The airline transport pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured; the airplane sustained substantial damage. The cross-country personal flight departed Eloy, Arizona, about 1330, with a planned destination of Chandler. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed. The approximate global positioning system (GPS) coordinates of the primary wreckage were 33 degrees 16.05 minutes north latitude and 111 degrees 48.24 minutes west longitude.
The pilot reported that upon touchdown on runway 22L, the left landing gear forward tube failed "just below the mounting lugs" and the airplane skidded off the left side of the runway. The airplane nosed over when it contacted soft sand, and the vertical stabilizer sustained substantial damage.
The pilot reported that the last annual inspection occurred on February 3, 2006. At the time of the accident, the recorded airframe total time was 723 hours. The pilot indicated that the airplane was originally built in the 1930's. The landing gear forward attach point was located under a fairing.
A Federal Aviation Administration inspector examined the failure point but was unable to determine the exact mode of failure.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N501W
- Reported as
- Monocoupe 110 Special
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 5W47
- Airframe hours
- 723
- Engine
- Warner R550-3, 185 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 1, 2006
- Departed
- E60 · Eloy, AZ
- Destination
- CHD · Chandler, AZ
- Airport
- CHD · Chandler Municipal Airport, runway 22L, 4,870 × 75 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
- 62
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- July 1, 2006
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 28,500 total · 69 in this make and model · 23,500 as pilot in command · 110 in the last 90 days · 35 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 300° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 40 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 15,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 43 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.70 inHg
- Observed at
- CHD
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N501W · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.