Czech Aircraft Works Spol Sro SPORTCRUISER N642JB

Summary

On 24 May 2015 at about 21:45 local time, a Czech Aircraft Works Spol Sro SPORTCRUISER registered N642JB was involved in an accident near Fresno, California, United States. One person was 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

24 May 2015 at 21:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Fresno, California, United States

Nearest airport

Fresno Chandler Executive (FCH)

Coordinates

36.7325, -119.8208

Aircraft

Czech Aircraft Works Spol Sro SPORTCRUISER

Registration

N642JB

Category

Airplane

Year built

2008

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Fresno → Fresno

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

GAA15LA092

Nobody was injured.

The failure of the nose landing gear (NLG) leg due to fatigue fractures, which resulted in the NLG collapsing during landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that, during the third landing of the flight and as the nose landing gear (NLG) touched down, an immediate shimmy developed that sounded "clunky." The NLG subsequently collapsed, and the light-sport airplane then skidded to a stop on the runway and sustained substantial damage to the firewall. The pilot stated that the landing flare was "normal" and that the main landing gear touched down first. He reported that there were no anomalies with the landing gear during the previous two landings. Examination of the NLG assembly revealed that the NLG leg was fractured at the weld joint in the upper attachment area and that the fracture features were consistent with fatigue cracking. Multiple fatigue fracture origins were found at the forward edge of the assembly weld on the left side of the NLG leg. The fatigue crack penetrated about 50 percent of the NLG leg's cross-section and was consistent with side-to-side loading of the leg.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.