Cessna A185E N4530F

Summary

On 9 March 2005 at about 19:30 local time, a Cessna A185E registered N4530F was involved in an accident near Tucson, Arizona, United States. 5 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

9 March 2005 at 19:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Tucson, Arizona, United States

Nearest airport

Marana Regional (AVQ)

Coordinates

32.4094, -111.2183

Aircraft

Cessna A185E

Registration

N4530F

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Stellar Airpark → Tucson

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX05LA110

Nobody was injured.

a loss of directional control due to the failure of unknown maintenance personnel to install the tailwheel-locking collar, and the inadequate maintenance inspection of the worn tailwheel steering arm.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane ground looped during the landing roll. The pilot performed a wheel landing, and as the tailwheel touched down, the airplane began veering to the left. The pilot applied right rudder, followed by the application of the right brake, attempting to stop the leftward veer. The airplane continued to the left and ground looped. The right main landing gear sheared off, proceeded by ground impact of the right wing, right elevator, and right stabilizer. As the pilot exited the airplane, he noted that the winds were calm. Post accident examination of the tailwheel assembly revealed that the tailwheel-locking collar had not been installed on the tailwheel fork assembly. The purpose of the tailwheel-locking assembly is to prevent uncommanded swerve or aircraft direction change during takeoff and landing. It was not apparent that the tailwheel-locking collar had not been installed until the tailwheel was disassembled. The tailwheel locking bell crank was installed on the tailwheel bracket assembly, and is designed to engage with the tailwheel-locking collar to lock the tailwheel. In the cockpit, the tailwheel-locking control and the tailwheel-locking bell crank operated normally. However, the tailwheel could not be locked without the tailwheel-locking collar installed. The steering notch on the tailwheel steering arm assembly that enables the tailwheel to steer the airplane was worn out. The worn tailwheel steering arm assembly allowed the tailwheel to be turned about the steering axis with only light force applied by hand. The worn tailwheel steering arm assembly would allow the tailwheel to swivel without command during a swerve. Review of the airplane's logbooks did not reveal when the tailwheel assembly was last disassembled. The last check on the tail wheel was during the last annual inspection.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.