Cessna 340 N5870M

Summary

On 9 September 2017 at about 20:00 local time, a Cessna 340 registered N5870M, operated by Holubar Properties Inc, was involved in an accident near McKinney, Texas, 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

9 September 2017 at 20:00

Classification

Accident

Location

McKinney, Texas, United States

Nearest airport

McKinney National (KTKI)

Coordinates

33.1764, -96.5892

Aircraft

Cessna 340

Registration

N5870M

Category

Airplane

Year built

1972

Engines

2

Operator

Holubar Properties Inc

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Business

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Palestine → McKinney

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN17LA351

Nobody was injured.

The failure of the bell crank pivot bolt which resulted in the left main landing gear collapse. Contributing to the accident was the lack of landing gear inspections in accordance with the airplane manufacturer's maintenance manuals.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

After a cross-country flight and during the landing roll at the destination airport, the airplane's left main landing gear collapsed, causing substantial damage to the aileron. An examination of the landing gear found the bell crank pivot bolt and gear down-lock broken. A review of the airplane's maintenance manual revealed that the landing gear system is to be disassembled/inspected every 10 years/5,000 landings, after an initial inspection after 20 years or 10,000 landings.  Additionally, the maintenance manual indicates that the main landing gear bell crank pivot bolt is to be inspected for wear every 3 years (or 500 landings), after an initial inspection at 3 years or 1,000 landings. A review of the airplane maintenance records did not reveal an entry were the landing gear inspections had been accomplished. The records revealed the airframe had accumulated 5,799.3 hours at the time of the last annual inspection, that was dated September 1, 2016. It's likely that the landing gear pivot bolt developed a crack over time, which then failed during landing, causing the gear to collapse.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.