Cessna 208B N860FE

Summary

On 26 October 1998 at about 17:09 local time, a Cessna 208B registered N860FE, operated by Corporate Air, Inc., was involved in an accident near Lahaina, Hawaii, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

26 October 1998 at 17:09

Classification

Accident

Location

Lahaina, Hawaii, United States

Nearest airport

Kapalua (JHM)

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Cessna 208B

Registration

N860FE

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Corporate Air, Inc.

Operating rule

Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter

Purpose of flight

Unknown

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Honolulu → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX99LA016

Nobody was injured.

Structural failure of the main landing gear strut due to metallurgical fatigue. The fatigue cracks originated at an internal structural flaw placed in the part during manufacture.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

Following a normal approach and landing, the left wing of the fixed gear aircraft dropped and the aircraft skidded on its belly-mounted cargo pod. Despite the pilot's attempt to maintain directional control, the aircraft veered off the runway to the left and down an embankment. Investigation revealed that the left main landing gear strut, a tubular spring steel assembly, was broken approximately midway between the wheel assembly and the fuselage attachment. Laboratory metallurgical analysis revealed that the strut failed due to multiple fatigue cracks that originated from an extrusion lap on the inside diameter of the strut. The lap was formed during the manufacture of the tubing from which the strut is fabricated, and caused a structural discontinuity from which the fatigue cracks initiated.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.