- Date
- January 30, 2006, 11:30 local (19:30 UTC)
- Place
- Lewiston, ID
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N2303YCessna A185E
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 30, 2006
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20060130001389A
- Case key
- 63172
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 left main landing gear attaching bolt, which resulted in the left main gear collapsing during the landing roll.
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
According to the pilot, upon touchdown, the left landing gear leg "started to fail" as the airplane's weight came onto the wheels. The left gear folded outward, and the airplane veered to the left. The airplane's left wing tip contacted an embankment, and the airplane came to a stop. Examination of the airplane by an FAA inspector revealed that there was structural damage to the left gear box, left wing strut, left wing tip, left aileron, the rear spar of the left wing, and the propeller. The inspector found that the 7/16-inch AN bolt that held the left gear leg to the fuselage failed in shear loading. Failure of the bolt allowed the gear to pivot on the landing gear box leading to failure of the lower landing gear box web.
Factual narrative
On January 30, 2006, about 1130 Pacific standard time, a Cessna A185E, N2303Y, sustained substantial damage when the left main landing gear collapsed during landing at a private airstrip approximately 25 nautical miles south southeast of Lewiston, Idaho. The private pilot and the two passengers aboard were not injured. The airplane was registered to the Bentz Fence Company Inc. of Lewiston and operated by the pilot. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight that departed from the Lewiston - Nez Perce County Airport about 1100 with an intended destination of the private airstrip.
According to the pilot, upon touchdown, the left landing gear leg "started to fail" as the airplane's weight came onto the wheels. The left gear folded outward, and the airplane veered to the left. The airplane's left wing tip contacted an embankment, and the airplane came to a stop.
Examination of the airplane by an FAA inspector revealed that there was structural damage to the left gear box, left wing strut, left wing tip, left aileron, the rear spar of the left wing, and the propeller. The inspector found that the 7/16-inch AN bolt that held the left gear leg to the fuselage failed in shear loading. Failure of the bolt allowed the gear to pivot on the landing gear box leading to failure of the lower landing gear box web.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2303Y
- Reported as
- Cessna A185E
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 185-01868
- Engine
- Continental IO-520-D, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- LWS · Lewiston, ID
- Destination
- Lewiston, ID
- Airport
- NONE · Private Airstrip, runway UNK
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
- 60
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3
- Flight hours
- 3,264 total · 2,984 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
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 N2303Y · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.