Beechcraft E90 N176TW

Summary

On 12 June 2019 at about 22:25 local time, a Beechcraft E90 registered N176TW, operated by Ameristar Jet Charter, Inc., was involved in an accident near Greenville, Texas, United States. 3 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

12 June 2019 at 22:25

Classification

Accident

Location

Greenville, Texas, United States

Nearest airport

Fort Worth Alliance Airport (AFW)

Coordinates

33.0700, -96.0653

Aircraft

Beechcraft E90

Registration

N176TW

Category

Airplane

Year built

1974

Engines

2

Operator

Ameristar Jet Charter, Inc.

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Greenville → Fort Worth

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN19LA166

Nobody was injured.

The fatigue failure of the right main landing gear upper torque knee.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilots were performing an instructional flight with multiple takeoffs and landings when, during one takeoff, the pilots heard a loud noise, and the right main landing gear (MLG) wheel assembly departed the airplane. The pilots elected to perform an emergency landing at another airport due to its larger runways and emergency personnel and equipment. The airplane landed and came to rest upright on the runway surface. Examination of the airplane after landing revealed that the right main wheel/tire and lower shock absorber assembly departed the upper shock absorber assembly. The separated assembly, which was located near the departure airport, impacted the right horizontal stabilizer after separation, which sustained substantial damage. Metallurgical examination of the assembly revealed that the MLG fractured at the connection between the upper and lower torque knees. Fatigue was identified on a fractured piece of the upper torque knee, and other fractures on the torque knee were consistent with overload. Corrosion assisted in crack initiation, and the crack propagated through fatigue until a critical crack length was reached. It is likely that the fatigue area fractured first and the other connections experienced an increase in loading, which caused them to separate from the MLG assembly.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.