- Date
- June 12, 2019, 14:15 local (21:15 UTC)
- Place
- Independence, OR
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N73053Cessna 140
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Landing gear collapse
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 3
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20190612006719A
- Case key
- 99607
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 landing gear axle, which resulted in a loss of control during the landing roll.
Findings · 2
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
According to the instructor, the accident landing was the second landing of the flight. As the tailwheel-equipped airplane was slowing down and they were exiting the runway, there was a loud "clunk." The airplane slid sideways, bounced, and then ground looped, resulting in substantial damage to the fuselage. The instructor reported that the right wheel assembly separated at the axle. Examination of the fractured axle assembly revealed that the axle fractured at the transition radius between the longitudinal barrel (tube) portion and the plate portion. A fatigue crack emanated from multiple origins at the outer surface of the transition radius and extended circumferentially around the outer surface of the transition radius. The fracture features outside of the fatigue region showed features consistent with overstress separation. The maintenance history of the landing gear and axle could not be determined. The fatigue crack started at the transition radius most likely as the result of a hard landing or several hard landings. Once the fatigue crack started, the crack propagated during taxiing and additional takeoffs and landings.
Factual narrative
On June 12, 2019, about 1435 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 140 airplane, N73053, sustained substantial damage when it was involved in an accident near Independence, Oregon. The flight instructor and student pilot were not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 instructional flight. According to the instructor, the accident landing was the second landing of the flight. As the airplane was slowing down and they were exiting the runway, there was a loud "clunk." The airplane slid sideways, bounced, and then ground looped, resulting in substantial damage to the fuselage. The instructor reported that the right wheel assembly separated at the axle. The student pilot, who was the owner of the airplane, reported that he had purchased the airplane in April 2019 and was flying 1 to 3 times a week while working toward his private pilot certificate. During the previous flights, there had been no issues. Examination of the fractured axle assembly revealed that the axle fractured at the transition radius between the longitudinal barrel (tube) portion and the plate portion. A fatigue crack emanated from multiple origins at the outer surface of the transition radius and extended circumferentially around the outer surface of the transition radius. The fracture features outside of the fatigue region showed features consistent with overstress separation. The maintenance history of the landing gear and axle could not be determined.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N73053
- Reported as
- Cessna 140 (Undesignat)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 10265
- Built
- 1946
- Airframe hours
- 5,494.9
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-C1, 115 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · August 7, 2018 · 33.6 hours before
- Departed
- ONP · Newport, OR
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- 7S5 · Independence State, runway 34, 3,142 × 60 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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Flight instructor
- Age
- 57
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- September 22, 2017
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 1,879 total · 25 in this make and model · 1,860 as pilot in command · 302 in the last 90 days · 68 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Student pilot
- Age
- 57
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 24 total · 24 in this make and model · 24 in the last 90 days · 11 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 91 °F, dew point 57 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.86 inHg
- Observed at
- KSLE, 9 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KSLE 122056Z 10SM CLR 33/14 A2986 RMK AO2 SLP110 T03330139 58014=
Docket · 6
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 15, 2022, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.8 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.