Piper PA-28-180 N3470R

Summary

On 12 April 2010 at about 00:30 local time, a Piper PA-28-180 registered N3470R was involved in an accident near Three Rivers, Michigan, 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

12 April 2010 at 00:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Three Rivers, Michigan, United States

Nearest airport

Three Rivers Municipal (HAI)

Coordinates

41.9597, -85.5933

Aircraft

Piper PA-28-180

Registration

N3470R

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Three Rivers → Three Rivers

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Dusk

NTSB number

CEN10LA210

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's inability to maintain directional control during landing due to the failure of the left main landing gear torque link as a result of fatigue.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

During a touch-and-go landing, the airplane veered to the left and the flight instructor attempted to correct to the right thinking the student applied the left brake. However, the airplane continued to veer to the left and the right wing struck the terrain. The airplane continued off the runway and came to rest in a field. Examination of the airplane revealed that the left aft spar was bent and fractured, the left main landing gear separated, and the main landing landing gear torque link was fractured. An NTSB Materials Laboratory examination of the torque link revealed the fracture face contained crack arrest marks typical of fatigue cracking that emanated from multiple origins at the surface of the wall on both sides of the link. The fatigue origin areas contained no evidence of gouge damage or corrosion damage. The fatigue cracks were the result of lateral stress produced during landing and taxi operations. Hardness testing of the material produced values greater than the minimum hardness value.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.