# NTSB LAX07CA288: Bellanca 7GCBC, N41695, Laurel, MT, September 30, 2007 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · No injuries · Data collection · Final report - Date: September 30, 2007, 15:05 local (21:05 UTC) - Place: Laurel, MT - Coordinates: 45.706202, -108.75627 (estimated) - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=45.7062&lon=-108.7563&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Landing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/550) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Highest injury: No injuries - Injuries: 2 uninjured - Status: Completed, report November 29, 2007 - Report: Approved by Office Director - Parties: Federal Aviation Administration - NTSB case key (mKey): 66972 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=LAX07CA288 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/66972/pdf - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/LAX07CA288 ## Probable cause Corrosion and fatigue-induced failure of the landing gear structure. ## Sequence of events In NTSB's coding before 2008 (https://www.ntsb.gov/GILS/Documents/codman.pdf). - Airframe/component/system failure/malfunction, landing - roll - landing gear,main gear - corroded (cause) - landing gear,main gear - fatigue (cause) - landing gear,main gear - separation (cause) ## Analysis During an instructional flight, the left main landing gear assembly broke during rollout following a normal landing. An examination of the gear assembly revealed evidence that a step had been spot welded onto the gear. Over time, corrosion developed in the vicinity of the weld, and the gear fractured due to corrosion induced fatigue and separated. No evidence of gear maintenance specific to the welding of the step to the gear assembly was documented in the airplane's maintenance records. ## Factual narrative On September 30, 2007, about 1505 mountain daylight time, a Bellanca 7GCBC, N41695, experienced the breakage and separation of its left main landing gear during landing rollout at the Laurel Municipal Airport, Laurel, Montana. The airplane was owned and operated by the private pilot, who was receiving flight instruction from his airline transport certificated flight instructor (CFI). The airplane was substantially damaged. Neither pilot was injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time, and no flight plan had been filed. The flight was performed under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91, and it originated from Billings, Montana, about 1400. The CFI reported to the National Transportation Safety Board investigator that he was providing transition flight training to the student, and they had performed a series of uneventful takeoffs and landings. During the accident landing down the center of runway 22, the left main gear separated at the point where a step had been attached, and as the airplane rolled to a stop, the left wing's lift strut buckled. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) coordinator reported that his examination of the airframe revealed evidence that the step had been spot welded onto the spring steel gear assembly. The assembly fatigued and broke in the vicinity of the spot weld. The FAA coordinator stated that evidence of corrosion was observed in the area where the gear assembly fractured. No evidence of gear maintenance, including the welding of the step to the gear assembly, was documented in the airplane's maintenance records. ## Aircraft - Registration: [N41695](https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N41695), registered now, S/N 593-73, built 1973 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: Bellanca 7GCBC - Registry model: [Bellanca 7GCBC](https://openairdocs.org/model/bellanca-7gcbc) (registry code 1220601) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Lycoming 0-320 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/lycoming-0-320-series) (registry code 41508, reciprocating) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane - Serial number: 593-73 - Engines: Lycoming O-320-A2B reciprocating - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Instructional, Part 91 - Registered owner: Robert J. Guilfoyle - Airworthiness certificate: Special, Restricted (Special) - Departed: S68, Laurel, MT - Destination: S68, Laurel, MT - Airport: 6S8, Laurel Municipal, runway 22, 5,200 × 75 ft, asphalt ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Flight instructor; age 77; flight instructor, airline transport; airplane ratings: single-engine land, multi-engine land; instrument ratings: airplane; medical: class 3; flight hours: 17,415 total, 9 in this make and model, 52 in the last 90 days, 15 in the last 30 days - Student pilot; age 53; private; airplane ratings: single-engine land; medical: class 3; flight hours: 154 total, 5 in this make and model, 5 in the last 90 days, 5 in the last 30 days ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day - Visibility: 10 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: none ## FAA reports on this event (1) The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 20070930021299A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20070930021299A), Sep 30, 2007: Bbavia 7GCBC, Laurel, MT, Substantial damage. (-23) On September 30, 2007 at 1400 MDT, a Bellanca 7GCBC, N41695 registered to the pilot [privacy data omitted] had the left main gear collapse on landing,… From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.