Cessna 195 N4498C

Summary

On 16 January 1998 at about 23:25 local time, a Cessna 195 registered N4498C was involved in an accident near Long Beach, California, 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

16 January 1998 at 23:25

Classification

Accident

Location

Long Beach, California, United States

Nearest airport

Long Beach (LGB)

Coordinates

33.8101, -118.1806

Aircraft

Cessna 195

Registration

N4498C

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Porterville → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX98LA074

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during the landing, which led to a ground loop and a resultant overload failure of the right main landing gear attach points.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that he landed on runway 30 and suddenly felt a 'bump.' The pilot further reported that at that time the aircraft began an uncommanded yaw to the left and he noted that the right main landing gear had separated from the aircraft. The aircraft came to rest on its side. An immediate inspection of the accident site yielded no sign of debris or potholes on the runway surface. An on-site examination of the aircraft found that the bolt which attached the landing gear spring to the fuselage had been bent, fractured, and distorted at an approximate 45-degree angle, and the support assembly had also been fractured. The bolt and a portion of the separated support assembly from the right main landing gear were sent to the Safety Board Materials Laboratory for testing. Details of the examination showed that the fracture surface on the bolt revealed no evidence of progressive cracking or preexisting defects. All fracture features and deformation on the bolt pieces were consistent with an overstress under bending/tension loading conditions. Examination of the bracket for the support assembly was conducted with the aid of a binocular microscope and disclosed the fracture features typical of a direct shear overstress separation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.