Bellanca 14-19 N6561N

Summary

On 11 June 2009 at about 19:22 local time, a Bellanca 14-19 registered N6561N was involved in an accident near Columbia, California, 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

11 June 2009 at 19:22

Classification

Accident

Location

Columbia, California, United States

Nearest airport

Columbia Airport (O22)

Coordinates

38.0303, -120.4144

Aircraft

Bellanca 14-19

Registration

N6561N

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Jean → Columbia

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR09LA290

Nobody was injured.

The failure of the left main landing gear drag link as a result of overstress fracture. Contributing to the accident was maintenance personnel's failure to detect a small crack in the left main landing gear drag link during the most recent annual inspection.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that after a normal touchdown on runway 17, the airplane suddenly veered to the left. The pilot applied right rudder and right brake, which had no effect. The left main landing gear collapsed, and the left wing impacted the ground. The airplane continued to the left and exited the runway onto a grassy area. There was structural damage to the left wing, aileron, and flap. Post-accident examination of the airplane revealed that the left main landing gear drag link had separated at the junction of the upper and lower drag links, and the landing gear strut had folded forward. The drag link appeared to be the original part installed during manufacture of the airplane in 1950. Examination of the separation surfaces on the drag link revealed that the drag link fractured due to overstress. Most of the fracture surface appeared to be newly created indicating the majority of the overstress fracture occurred at the time of the landing. However, well-developed corrosion-product film was identified on a small portion of the fracture surface indicating this portion of the overstress fracture had occurred at an earlier time. The pilot reported that the landing gear was most recently inspected during the annual inspection about 1 month before the accident with no discrepancies noted. A small crack (corresponding to the corroded portion of the fracture surface) was likely present on the drag link at the time of this inspection, but it was not discovered.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.