- Date
- October 23, 1993, 12:10 local (16:10 UTC)
- Place
- Williamstown, NJ
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N3975VCessna 170
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 20, 1994
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19931023040559A
- Case key
- 38707
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
Fatigue failure of the gear axle which resulted in the collapse of the left main gear.
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 airplane had started the takeoff roll and had travelled about 150 feet when the left main landing gear axle separated from the airplane. The airplane subsequently swerved left and then nosed over. The investigation revealed that fatigue cracking occurred at the junction of the flange and main landing gear axle, resulting in the failure of the axle, and subsequent separation of the landing gear from the airplane.
Factual narrative
On Saturday, October 23, 1993, at about 1210 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 170, N3975V, piloted by Mr. Joseph Reimer Jr, nosed over during take off at the Southern Cross Airstrip, Williamstown, New Jersey. The airplane was substantially damaged. The pilot and the two passengers were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time, and no flight plan had been filed. The flight was being conducted under 14 CFR 91.
The airplane had started the takeoff roll and had traveled about 150 feet when the left axle of the main landing gear fractured, and separated from the airplane. The airplane ground looped and nosed over.
According to the FAA's Malfunction Report:
...main landing gear axle experienced fatigue failure...the failure occurred at the junction which was cracked along the flange of the main landing gear axle, causing the left main landing gear to separate from the aircraft...it is suspected that a crack may have developed through normal operations, went undetected during preflight and annual inspections...
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3975V
- Reported as
- Cessna 170
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18294
- Engine
- Continental C-145-2, 145 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Joseph Reimer Sr.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Airport
- NONE · Southern Cross, runway 27, 2,200 × 100 ft, grass/turf
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
- 35
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Unknown
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 442 total · 383 as pilot in command · 25 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 250° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.