Spartan 7W N17613

Summary

On 6 July 2000 at about 16:45 local time, a Spartan 7W registered N17613 was involved in an accident near Jefferson, Ohio, United States. 2 people were 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

6 July 2000 at 16:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Jefferson, Ohio, United States

Nearest airport

Ashtabula County Arpt (HZY)

Coordinates

41.5393, -81.0709

Aircraft

Spartan 7W

Registration

N17613

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Middlefield → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC00LA190

Nobody was injured.

The overload failure of the left main gear strut housing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

As the airplane touched down, the left wing would not remain level despite inputs to the aileron. Control of the airplane was maintained for about 500 feet, then the airplane swerved left and departed the left side of the runway, onto a grass area. Examination of the airplane revealed that the left main landing gear assembly broke at the top shock strut mount. The owner forwarded components from the left main landing gear to an independent metallurgist. The fracture surface on the left main landing gear strut housing was examined under a scanning electron microscope, and the metallurgist concluded, 'the bulk of the fracture surface of the housing was a cleavage fracture which would be consistent with an overload condition coupled with the low ductility of the housing. The airplane was built in 1937, and the landing gear assembly was an original part.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.