Cessna 150C N1901Z

Summary

On 13 December 2012 at about 18:09 local time, a Cessna 150C registered N1901Z, operated by Alaska Flight Center Inc, was involved in an accident near Juneau, Alaska, 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

13 December 2012 at 18:09

Classification

Accident

Location

Juneau, Alaska, United States

Nearest airport

Juneau International Airport (PAJN)

Coordinates

58.3547, -134.5761

Aircraft

Cessna 150C

Registration

N1901Z

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Alaska Flight Center Inc

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Juneau → Juneau

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ANC13LA016

Nobody was injured.

The collapse of the left main landing gear during the landing roll, as a result of fatigue cracking. Contributing to the accident was the improper maintenance of the landing gear.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight instructor was demonstrating a short field, three-point landing. The touchdown was normal, but during the landing roll a gust of wind pushed the airplane, and it began to turn to the right. The instructor applied left brake in an attempt to correct for the right turn, and the airplane’s left main landing gear broke. As the broken gear leg dug into the runway, the airplane pivoted 180 degrees to the left, and the left wing struck the runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing and fuselage. The flight instructor stated that during the last annual inspection, about 4 months before the accident, he observed corrosion on the main landing gear legs and ground it off using a hand-held grinder. The service manual specified to carefully remove any rust by light sanding; the sanding must blend the damage into the adjacent area in an approximate 20:1 ratio. Examination of the landing gear revealed evidence of the improper maintenance and corrosion damage, which weakened the gear and led to fatigue cracking and an overstress fracture.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.