- Date
- August 21, 1995, 15:50 local (19:50 UTC)
- Place
- Monticello, NY
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N661RCessna 310B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 3, 1997
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19950821049249A
- Case key
- 39036
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 right main landing gear during the landing, which resulted in a gear collapse, loss of directional control, and subsequent collision with an embankment.
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
During the landing roll, the right main gear collapsed, and the airplane veered off the runway into an embankment. Postaccident investigation revealed that the right main landing gear failed through the weld that held the socket-strut, strut-tube, and plate-reinforcement together. Metallurgical examination of the fracture revealed that the failure was due to fatigue.
Factual narrative
On August 21, 1995, about 1550 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 310B, airplane, N661R, was substantially damaged when it collided with terrain during the landing, at the Monticello Airport, Monticello, New York. The private pilot and passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the personal flight that departed from Sussex, New Jersey. There was no flight plan for the flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
In the NTSB form 6120.1/2, the pilot stated:
". . .At touchdown on runway 01, the right wheel fell off. . . .Upon leaving blacktop, airplane spun around and stopped beside runway. . . .Upon examination of wheel and strut, a weld broke causing wheel to fall off. . . ."
The pilot reported that the airplane came to rest in a large embankment.
Additionally, the right main landing gear assembly was examined by the National Transportation Safety Board Metallurgist Lab, Washington, District of Columbia. The metallurgist's factual report stated: "Examination of the fracture faces on the received pieces revealed features typical of fatigue cracking adjacent to the inner surface of the weld. The fatigue cracking initiated from multiple origins located at the inboard and outboard sides of the strut assembly. . . .Subsequent examination of the fracture faces revealed no evidence of corrosion pitting either at the fatigue crack origins or in any other areas of the fracture."
Aircraft
- Registration
- N661R
- Reported as
- Cessna 310B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 35033
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-540-A1A5, 290 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Allan E. Cramer
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 16, 1994
- Departed
- N63 · Sussex, NJ
- Destination
- N37
- Airport
- N37 · Monticello, runway 1, 2,845 × 31 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
- 40
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 426 total · 14 in this make and model · 303 as pilot in command · 38 in the last 90 days · 26 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.