Diamond DA 40 N386MA
20 August 2020 · Benson, Arizona, United States · No injuries
Summary
On 20 August 2020 at about 04:50 local time, a Diamond DA 40 registered N386MA, operated by CAE Oxford Aviation Academy, was involved in an accident near Benson, Arizona, 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.
The record
- Date
- at 04:50
- Classification
- Accident
- Location
- Benson, Arizona, United States
- Nearest airport
- Benson Muni (E95)
- Coordinates
- 31.9994, -110.3600
- Aircraft
- Diamond DA 40
- Registration
- N386MA
- Category
- Airplane
- Year built
- 2004
- Engines
- 1
- Operator
- CAE Oxford Aviation Academy
- Operating rule
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Purpose of flight
- Instructional
- Phase of flight
- Not recorded
- Route
- Mesa → Benson
- Aircraft damage
- Substantial
- Weather
- VMC
- Light
- Day
- NTSB number
- WPR20LA290
People
Nobody was injured.
| On board | Died | Serious | Minor | Uninjured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Probable cause
The failure of the nose landing due to fatigue cracking.
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 and completed a normal approach to the destination runway. The main landing gear touched down on the runway surface first and as soon as the nose lowered, the nose landing gear collapsed. The nose landing gear fork assembly had collapsed when a pivot-axle welded to the arm in the nose landing gear welding assembly fractured. A metallurgical examination revealed the pivot-axle fracture surface exhibited two opposite facing fatigue cracks propagating inward on the pivot-axle due to reverse bending, consistent with repeated landing forces and cycles prior to the accident. The cracks propagated until the remaining pivot-axle cross section could not withstand the loads on the last landing cycle and succumbed to fracture from overstress. The location of the crack’s origins required disassembly to detect. Therefore, it would not have been easily detected during routine maintenance. Following this accident, the manufacturer issued a mandatory service bulletin to routinely inspect the nose landing gear for cracks using dye penetrant.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.
Other Diamond DA-40 accidents
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 May 2021 | Diamond DA 40 | Paris, Idaho, United States | Utah Helicopter | No injuries | - |
| 3 Jan 2021 | Diamond DA 40 | Portsmouth, New Hampshire, United States | Avier Flight School | No injuries | - |
| 28 Sep 2019 | Diamond DA 40 | Mesa, Arizona, United States | Cae Oxford Aviation Academy Phoenix Inc | No injuries | - |
| 13 Jul 2019 | Diamond DA 40 | Denver, Colorado, United States | Western Air Flight Academy | No injuries | - |
| 6 Jun 2021 | Diamond DA 40 NG | Darlington, Indiana, United States | Lift Training Academy | Fatal | 2 |
| 26 Feb 2021 | Diamond DA 40 | Lanai, Hawaii, United States | George's Aviation Services Inc | Serious injuries | - |
Other accidents in this area
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 Mar 2020 | Piper PA 28-180 | Tucson, Arizona, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 5 Oct 2020 | Cessna 150 | Rimrock, Arizona, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 13 May 2020 | Mooney M20J | Phoenix, Arizona, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 5 Jul 2020 | Beechcraft 23 | Sedona, Arizona, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 24 Oct 2020 | Cessna 172 | Carefree, Arizona, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 14 May 2020 | Cessna 172 | Tucson, Arizona, United States | Skylens LLC | No injuries | - |