# NTSB SEA08LA110: Cessna 180, N180XP, Blanding, UT, April 24, 2008 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report - Date: April 24, 2008, 10:30 local (16:30 UTC) - Place: Blanding, UT - Coordinates: 37.587223, -109.485275 (estimated) - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=37.5872&lon=-109.4853&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Landing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/550) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Defining event: [Landing-landing roll: Aircraft structural failure](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/337) - Highest injury: No injuries - Injuries: 2 uninjured - Status: Completed, report December 8, 2008 - Report: Approved by Office Director - Parties: Federal Aviation Administration - NTSB case key (mKey): 67881 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=SEA08LA110 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/67881/pdf - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/SEA08LA110 ## Probable cause The fatigue failure of the right main landing gear leg during the landing roll. ## Findings NTSB's coded findings; those marked are part of the probable cause. - [Landing gear system: main landing gear](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01023210): Aircraft › Aircraft systems · Failure (probable cause); cases with it: [Cessna 180, 2 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01023210/cases.md?model=2072602), [All aircraft, 241 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01023210/cases.md) - [Landing gear system: main landing gear](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01023210): Aircraft › Aircraft systems · Fatigue/wear/corrosion (probable cause); cases with it: [Cessna 180, 2 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01023210/cases.md?model=2072602), [All aircraft, 241 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01023210/cases.md) ## Sequence of events The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event best describes what happened. - [Landing-landing roll: Aircraft structural failure](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/337) (defining event); cases with it: [Cessna 180, 2 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/337/sequence.md?model=2072602), [All aircraft, 290 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/337/sequence.md) ## Analysis During the landing roll, the pilot began to apply right rudder and right brake in order to compensate for the airplane turning to the left. During that sequence, the right main landing gear leg separated from the airframe at the point where it protrudes from the fuselage. The airplane then slid off the runway onto the surrounding soft terrain. An inspection of the gear leg by the NTSB Materials Laboratory determined that the metallurgical features discovered on the right main landing gear leg were consistent with separation due to a fatigue fracture that had initiated in a corrosion pit under a gear leg clamping mechanism. In addition to the fatigue region at the origin area, three smaller fatigue regions were detected within the shear lip of the fracture. ## Factual narrative On April 24, 2008, about 1030 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 180, N180XP, experienced the collapse of the right main landing gear strut during the landing roll at Blanding Municipal Airport, Blanding, Utah. The private pilot and his passenger were not injured, but the airplane, which is owned and operated by the pilot, sustained substantial damage. The 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 personal pleasure flight, which departed Eagle City, Utah, about 30 minutes prior to the accident, was being operated in visual meteorological conditions. No flight plan had been filed. There was no report of an ELT activation. According to the pilot, the touchdown for the planned full-stop landing was smooth and uneventful, but near the beginning of the landing roll the airplane started turning to the left. He therefore applied almost full right rudder, but that did not stop the left turn. The pilot then began to apply right brake in addition to the rudder input. As the pilot increased the breaking pressure, the right main gear leg separated from the airframe at the point where it protrudes from the fuselage. The airplane then slid off the runway onto the surrounding soft terrain. As a result of the accident sequence, the outboard portion of the airplane's right wing was bent upward, the fuselage skin around the landing gear attachment box was torn open, and the tail wheel pivot assembly casting had broken in two. Except for the failure of the main landing gear leg and the tail wheel pivot assembly casting, there was no evidence of any other airframe of flight control anomaly. Both the fractured tail wheel pivot assembly casting, and the portion of the right main landing gear leg that had remained attached to the airframe were submitted to the NTSB Materials Laboratory for further inspection. According to that inspection, the metallurgical features discovered on the right main landing gear leg were consistent with separation due to a fatigue fracture that had initiated in a corrosion pit under a gear leg clamping mechanism. In addition to the fatigue region at the origin area, three smaller fatigue regions were detected within the shear lip of the fracture. The inspection of the tail wheel pivot casting determined that its fracture surface contained a uniformly grainy surface consistent with an overload event. ## Aircraft - Registration: [N180XP](https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N180XP), registered now, S/N 32494, built 1956 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: CESSNA 180 - Registry model: [Cessna 180](https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-180) (registry code 2072602) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Continental O-470 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-o-470-series) (registry code 17026, reciprocating) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane - Serial number: 32494 - Airframe hours: 4338 - Engines: CONT MOTOR O-470-K 230 horsepower reciprocating - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Personal, Part 91 - Operator: Berge Christian F - Registered owner: Berge Christian F - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal - Last inspection: Annual, February 5, 2008 - Departed: Eagle City, UT - Destination: KBDG, Blanding, UT - Airport: KBDG, Blanding Municipal, runway 35, 6,000 × 75 ft, asphalt ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 48; injuries: none; private; airplane ratings: multi-engine land, single-engine land; instrument ratings: airplane; medical: class 3, without waivers/limitations; last flight review September 28, 2007; seat: left; flight hours: 800 total, 100 in this make and model, 700 as pilot in command, 49 in the last 90 days, 22 in the last 30 days, 7 in the last 24 hours ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day - Wind: variable at 4 knots - Visibility: 10 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: none - Temperature: 55 °F ## FAA reports on this event (1) The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 20080424832089A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20080424832089A), Apr 24, 2008: Cessna 180, Blanding, UT, Substantial damage. (-23) The tail wheel assembly departed the aircraft after takeoff at bluff, Utah. The pilot landed at Blanding, UT, without the steerable tailwheel, lost… 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.