# NTSB MIA05IA087: Cirrus Design SR20, N8160C, Jacksonville, FL, March 11, 2005 - Type: NTSB incident investigation - Classification: Incident · No injuries · Incident investigation · Final report - Date: March 10, 2005, 19:43 local (Mar 11, 2005, 00:43 UTC) - Place: Jacksonville, FL - Coordinates: 30.336389, -81.514442 - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=30.3364&lon=-81.5144&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Landing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/550) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Highest injury: No injuries - Injuries: 2 uninjured - Status: Completed, report September 13, 2005 - Report: Approved by Office Director - Parties: Cirrus Design Corporation, FAA FSDO - NTSB case key (mKey): 61255 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=MIA05IA087 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/61255/pdf - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/MIA05IA087 ## Probable cause Inadequate welding procedure by the manufacturer resulting in a poor weld of the nose landing gear and collapse of the nose landing gear during a porpoised landing. ## Sequence of events In NTSB's coding before 2008 (https://www.ntsb.gov/GILS/Documents/codman.pdf). - Nose gear collapsed, landing - flare/touchdown - landing gear,nose gear strut - improper/poor weld - procedure inadequate, manufacturer (cause) ## Analysis The pilot stated that while approaching to land on runway 5 at Craig Municipal Airport, he approached at a faster than normal airspeed. During the landing flare, the airplane porpoised a couple of times. On the second porpoise, the airplane touched down on the nose and the nose landing gear collapsed. The propeller struck the runway and the airplane skidded to a stop about 10 feet past sand bags, which marked the beginning of a construction zone on the runway. He stated the touch down was not any harder than the occasional hard landings made during flight training. Postincident examination of the nose landing gear showed it had separated at the point the gear is welded to the strut. The airplane's nose landing gear was sent to the NTSB Materials Laboratory in Washington DC for further inspection. Metallurgical examination of the nose gear revealed the weld between the strut tube and the spindle assembly was inadequate. ## Factual narrative On March 10, 2005, about 1943 eastern standard time, a Cirrus Design Corporation SR20, N8160C, suffered separation of the nose landing gear during landing at Craig Municipal Airport, Jacksonville, Florida, while on a 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and an instrument flight rules flight plan was filed. The airplane received minor damage and the private-rated pilot and one passenger were not injured. The flight last departed Fort Pierce, Florida, the same day, about 1845. The pilot stated that while approaching to land on runway 5 at Craig Municipal Airport, he approached at a faster than normal airspeed. During the landing flare, the airplane porpoised a couple of times. On the second porpoise, the airplane touched down on the nose and the nose landing gear collapsed. The propeller struck the runway and the airplane skidded to a stop about 10 feet past sand bags, which marked the beginning of a construction zone on the runway. He stated the touch down was not any harder than the occasional hard landings made during flight training. Postincident examination of the nose landing gear showed it had separated at the point the gear is welded to the strut. The airplane's nose landing gear was sent to the NTSB Materials Laboratory in Washington DC for further inspection. The inspection reveled that the strut assembly was fractured through the weld between the strut tube and the spindle assembly. Severe and course abrasive grinding was evident on the lower edge of the nose wheel fork. The weld is a fish mouth notch cut that travels the periphery diameter of the nose gear strut. Magnified examination found that the fracture was almost entirely contained within the fusion zone of the weld. The fracture was consistent with a rearward bending overstress, and no indications of preexisting cracking such as fatigue or significant corrosion were uncovered. Several large and many small pores were exposed in the fusion zone by the fracture. The large pores were consistent with gas voids measuring up to 0.078 inch in diameter, while the small pores were typical of shrinkage porosity and measured between 0.005 and 0.013 inch in diameter. "Discontinuity Acceptance Criteria" of the Cirrus "Ferrous Alloys Welding Process Specification" specifies the maximum acceptable size and the minimum acceptable spacing of subsurface porosity. The size and spacing of the existing porosity was not acceptable for class A welds using these criteria. Examinations of the fracture surfaces also showed areas of incomplete penetration of the weld to the root of the joint. Approximately 1/3 of the total weld length did not display penetration to the inner diameter of the tube section of the weld joint. The weld bead penetrated as little as an estimated 33% of the joint. ## Aircraft - Registration: [N8160C](https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N8160C), registered now, S/N 1381, built 2003 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: Cirrus Design Corp. SR20 - Registry model: [Cirrus Design SR20](https://openairdocs.org/model/cirrus-design-sr20) (registry code 2130000) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Continental IO-360 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-io-360-series) (registry code 17025, reciprocating) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane - Serial number: 1381 - Airframe hours: 550 - Engines: Continental IO-360-ES66 200 horsepower reciprocating - Damage: Minor damage - Flight: Personal, Part 91 - Operator: Kyle J. Brady - Registered owner: KB Aviation LLC - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal - Last inspection: 100 hour, December 1, 2004, 81 hours before - Departed: KFPR, Fort Pierce, FL - Destination: KCRG, Jacksonville, FL - Flight plan: IFR - Airport: KCRG, Craig Municipal, runway 5, 4,004 × 100 ft, asphalt ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 33; injuries: none; private; airplane ratings: single-engine land; instrument ratings: airplane; medical: class 3, without waivers/limitations; last flight review March 1, 2005; seat: left; flight hours: 148 total, 79 in this make and model, 47 in the last 90 days, 38 in the last 30 days, 3 in the last 24 hours ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Dusk - Wind: 150° at 6 knots - Visibility: 10 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: none - Temperature: 54 °F, dew point 39 °F - Altimeter: 29.89 inHg - Observed at: CRG ## FAA reports on this event (1) The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs). - [Incident 20050310005799I](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20050310005799I), Mar 10, 2005: Cirrus SR20, Jacksonville, FL, Minor damage. (-23) During landing on runway 05 at Craig Municipal Airport, Jacksonville, Florida, pilot allowed Cirrus SR-20, N8160C, to experience a moderate bounce.… ## Other investigations on N8160C (1) 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. - [NTSB CEN19LA133](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CEN19LA133), May 2, 2019: Cirrus SR20 (N8160C), Mineral Wells, TX, substantial damage. Probable cause: The in-flight separation of the right aileron when the inboard hinge bolt disengaged from its nut plate due to excessively twisted safety wire, which resulted in a torsional overstress fracture that… 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.