Diamond DA 20-C1 N409AM

Summary

On 26 August 2010, a Diamond DA 20-C1 registered N409AM, operated by Image Air of Southwest Florida LC, was involved in an incident near Bloomington, Illinois, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was slightly damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

26 August 2010

Classification

Incident

Location

Bloomington, Illinois, United States

Nearest airport

Central Illinois Regional (BMI)

Coordinates

40.4769, -88.9158

Aircraft

Diamond DA 20-C1

Registration

N409AM

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Image Air of Southwest Florida LC

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Bloomington → Bloomington

Aircraft damage

Minor

Weather

VMC

Light

Not Reported

NTSB number

CEN10IA554

Nobody was injured.

The cracked nose landing gear fork assembly found during the preflight inspection.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

A student pilot found a cracked nose landing gear (NLG) fork, which was the third cracked fork the operator reported in the previous 17 months. A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Service Difficulty Report (SDR) query revealed there were 12 SDR reports on the NLG forks, which included the three from the incident operator. Another operator had a fleet of 44 airplanes. This fleet’s airplanes accumulated 13 cracked NLG forks in 17 months. According to a fleet representative, their normal procedure for reporting failed parts was to submit the information directly to the manufacturer, instead of submitting a SDR. The airplane’s manufacturer recommended the installation of screws in the bolt holes used to secure the fairing to the NLG fork, which reportedly reduced a stress concentration point. The airplane manufacturer published a Service Information Letter (SIL), which depicted a replacement NLG fork assembly, and described the installation process. The SIL also referred owners to the maintenance manual for new inspection requirements that require the NLG to be inspected every 100 hours as opposed to the previous 6,000-hour inspection cycle. The National Transportation Safety Board issued recommendations to the FAA to encourage "all persons or organizations that operate under 14 CFR Parts 43 and 91 to submit Malfunction or Defect Reports ... and to ... encourage foreign regulatory agencies to provide service difficulty data from resident operators and manufacturers to the FAA for incorporation into the FAA service difficulty data base."

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.