- Date
- September 19, 1998, 17:36 local (Sep 20, 1998, 00:36 UTC)
- Place
- Mesa, AZ
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N1613MCessna 185E
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 16, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19980919025419A
- Case key
- 44076
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 wheel assembly retention nuts and subsequent wheel separation.
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 pilot reported that when he applied the brakes during the landing rollout, the left wheel separated from the main landing gear. The aircraft then veered off to the left side of the runway. The aircraft was equipped with a snow-ski adapter kit, which had been installed on November 20, 1972. The four-wheel assembly retention bolts had sheared off upon the landing touch down, with the upper two bolts failing first. The nuts were then stripped off from the lower two bolts. The left landing gear wheel assembly separated from the landing gear strut. Research revealed that there is no inspection criteria to inspect the wheel assembly retention bolts.
Factual narrative
On September 19, 1998, at 1736 hours mountain standard time, a Cessna 185E, N1613M, veered off the runway on landing at the Falcon Field Airport, Mesa, Arizona. The aircraft sustained substantial damage. The commercial pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. The cross-country personal flight originated at Rock Springs, Wyoming, at 1300, and was terminating at the time of the accident. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed.
The pilot reported that he landed on runway 22L, and during the rollout when he applied the brakes, the left wheel separated from the main landing gear. The aircraft then veered off to the left side of the runway.
A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector from the Scottsdale, Arizona, Flight Standards District Office examined the aircraft and reported that it was equipped with a snow-ski adapter kit in accordance with STC #SA3-717, which had been installed on November 20, 1972. He further reported that the four-wheel assembly retention bolts sheared upon the landing touchdown, with the upper two bolts failing first. The nuts were then stripped off from the lower two bolts. The left landing gear wheel assembly departed the landing gear strut.
According to the FAA inspector, there is no inspection criteria for the wheel-assembly retention bolts.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1613M
- Reported as
- Cessna 185E
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18501833
- Airframe hours
- 1,892
- Engine
- Continental IO-520-D, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Roger Sires
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 6, 1998 · 47 hours before
- Departed
- RKS · Rock Springs, WY
- Destination
- FFZ
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- FFZ · Falcon Field, runway 22L, 5,100 × 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
- 59
- Certificates
- Commercial, Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,868 total · 806 in this make and model · 1,726 as pilot in command · 31 in the last 90 days · 26 in the last 30 days · 8 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 290° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 40 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 95 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- FFZ
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 N1613M · 3
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.