Cessna 172P N65021

Summary

On 2 March 2002 at about 16:40 local time, a Cessna 172P registered N65021 was involved in an accident near Coatesville, Pennsylvania, 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

2 March 2002 at 16:40

Classification

Accident

Location

Coatesville, Pennsylvania, United States

Nearest airport

Chester County (40N)

Coordinates

39.9831, -75.8664

Aircraft

Cessna 172P

Registration

N65021

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

West Chester → Cotesville

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC02LA070

Nobody was injured.

The student pilot's loss of aircraft control which resulted in a hard landing, and the CFI's delayed remedial action. Factors related to the accident were the fatigue cracks which initiated at the attachment hole on the landing gear strut, and the crosswind conditions.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

While the student pilot was landing on runway 11, about 5 feet above the runway, a gust of wind was encountered, which lifted the right wing. The left main landing gear touched down and the gear spring twisted. The airplane began to drift to the left, and after the CFI "gave the student a second or two to recover from this position," he took the controls. Continuing to veer, the airplane departed the left side of the runway, where the left main landing gear collapsed. The airplane came to rest in a grass area. The left main landing gear spring was retained for further examination. According to the manufacturers technical report of the examination, the tubular spring for the left main landing gear fractured at the inboard end. The inboard end of the spring contained a longitudinal oriented fracture that intersected a fastener hole. The fracture face contained chevron marks typical of an overstress fracture that pointed back to the hole, indicating that the fracture emanated from the fastener hole. No evidence of corrosion was noted on the fracture region. Further examination revealed that the fastener hole contained machining marks and fretting. Review of the airplane's maintenance records revealed that the landing gear struts were removed from the fuselage, and floats were installed, in 1992. After about 2,158 hours of service, the floats were removed, and the original landing gear struts were re-installed. The airplane had accumulated about 3,598 hours of total service. The CFI reported that the winds at the airport, about the time of the accident, were from 180 degrees at 8 knots, gusting to 17 knots.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.