- Date
- June 30, 2009, 10:30 local (17:30 UTC)
- Place
- Lincoln, CA
- Injuries
- 4 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N1064DCessna LC-126C
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Landing gear collapse
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 19, 2009
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20090630016899A
- Case key
- 74172
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
A fatigue crack in the left main landing gear strut resulting in the collapse of the strut during the landing roll.
Findings · 1
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot reported that when he entered the traffic pattern he observed the windsock indicating the wind was parallel to the runway. The pilot stated that during landing, the airplane "flared with no drift across the runway and touched down as normal." During the landing roll, the left main landing gear collapsed and separated from the airplane, and the left wing impacted the ground. Despite the pilot's control inputs, the airplane veered to the left and exited the runway, coming to a rest adjacent to the runway. The airplane sustained structural damage to the fuselage and left wing. Post-accident examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector revealed that the left main landing gear, at the point of separation, contained fractures consistent with fatigue cracks. The Safety Board issued Safety Recommendations A-01-001 and A-01-002 in March 2001, and the FAA issued an "Airworthiness Concern Sheet" in September 2007, both regarding landing gear fatigue on various Cessna airplane models with steel spring landing gear.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that when he entered the traffic pattern he observed the windsock indicating the wind was parallel to the runway. The pilot stated that during the landing the airplane "flared with no drift across the runway and touched down as normal." During the landing roll the left main landing gear collapsed and separated from the airplane, and the left wing impacted the ground. Despite the pilot's control inputs the airplane veered to the left and exited the runway coming to a rest adjacent to the runway. The airplane sustained structural damage to the fuselage and left wing. Post-accident examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector revealed that the left main landing gear, at the point of separation, contained fractures consistent with fatigue. The Safety Board issued Safety Recommendations A-01-001 and A-01-002 in March 2001, and the FAA issued an "Airworthiness Concern Sheet" in September 2007, both regarding landing gear fatigue on various Cessna airplane models with steel spring landing gear.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1064D
- Reported as
- Cessna LC-126C
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 7676
- Airframe hours
- 3,912
- Engine
- Jacobs R755A SERIES, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Gerald L LaJoie
- Registered owner
- Gerald L LaJoie
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 2, 2009 · 14 hours before
- Departed
- KLHM · Lincoln, CA
- Destination
- KLHM · Lincoln, CA
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- KLHM · Lincoln Regional Airport, runway 15, 3,001 × 100 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
- 59
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- May 9, 2009
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,020 total · 420 in this make and model · 982 as pilot in command · 14 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 160° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 82 °F, dew point 48 °F
- Observed at
- KLHM
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 19, 2009, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 9.3 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.