Cessna 180 N2469C

Summary

On 2 July 2018 at about 01:10 local time, a Cessna 180 registered N2469C was involved in an accident near Lago Vista, 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

2 July 2018 at 01:10

Classification

Accident

Location

Lago Vista, Texas, United States

Nearest airport

Rusty Allen Airport (RYW)

Coordinates

30.4986, -97.9694

Aircraft

Cessna 180

Registration

N2469C

Category

Airplane

Year built

1954

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Childress → Lago Vista

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN18LA250

Nobody was injured.

The separation of the left main landing gear spring during landing due to a preexisting fatigue crack.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airline transport pilot was conducting a personal flight when the airplane rolled left during the landing flare and then landed hard on the left main landing gear (MLG). The airplane bounced and landed hard and then bounced again on the left MLG. The left MLG spring separated from the fuselage on the third contact with the runway. The airplane subsequently ground looped to the left and came to rest heading about 180° from the original runway direction. The left main wing spar was substantially damaged when the left wingtip impacted the runway. Postaccident materials examination of the fractured left MLG spring revealed a multiple-origin fatigue crack where the landing gear fixation hardware contacted the landing gear spring. The maintenance logbooks were not complete; therefore, it could not be determined if the left MLG spring had been replaced or overhauled since new. The separation of the left MLG gear spring during landing was likely due to the fatigue crack that reduced the overall strength of the landing gear spring.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.