Cessna 140 N89965

Summary

On 8 July 2016 at about 23:04 local time, a Cessna 140 registered N89965 was involved in an accident near Salinas, 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

8 July 2016 at 23:04

Classification

Accident

Location

Salinas, California, United States

Nearest airport

Salinas (SNS)

Coordinates

36.6628, -121.6064

Aircraft

Cessna 140

Registration

N89965

Category

Airplane

Year built

1946

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Santa Rosa → Salinas

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR16LA139

Nobody was injured.

The fatigue failure of a bulkhead-skin joint that supported the main landing gear leg, which resulted in the collapse of the left main landing gear. Contributing to the failure were the non-original structural configuration of the 60-year-old airplane and the relative inaccessibility for inspection or cleaning of the structure in the region of the fatigue failure.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The private pilot made a normal landing in his 1946 tailwheel-equipped airplane. During the landing roll, the left wing began to dip. The pilot applied opposite aileron, but the airplane continued to roll to the left, and the cabin floor deformed upward. The left wing and propeller struck the runway surface, and the airplane came to a stop on the runway shortly thereafter. Postaccident examination revealed that the left main landing gear leg had rotated aft and up, and that the landing gear leg support structure formed by two transverse bulkheads and portions of the lower fuselage skin had failed. Comparisons of fasteners, skin, and fairing panels revealed some discrepancies between the existing configuration and the original design, but the exact pre-accident configuration and condition could not be determined. Detailed laboratory examination revealed that the joint between the aft landing gear bulkhead and the lower fuselage skin had failed in fatigue. The fatigue failure sites were in a region of the airplane's structure that was not readily accessible for cleaning or inspection, and some sludge-like deposits of unidentified substance were observed in the location of the fatigue failure.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.