Cessna A185F N185BB

Summary

On 8 September 2021 at about 18:30 local time, a Cessna A185F registered N185BB, operated by Mission Aviation Training Academy, was involved in an accident near Arlington, Washington, 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

8 September 2021 at 18:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Arlington, Washington, United States

Nearest airport

Arlington Muni (AWO)

Coordinates

48.1608, -122.1590

Aircraft

Cessna A185F

Registration

N185BB

Category

Airplane

Year built

1977

Engines

1

Operator

Mission Aviation Training Academy

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR21LA339

Nobody was injured.

The fatigue fracture of the tailwheel fitting spring, which resulted in the loss of directional control during the landing roll.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight instructor of a tailwheel airplane was demonstrating a wheel landing to the pilot receiving instruction. The airplane touched down normally on its main landing gear, and, as the tailwheel touched down, the airplane veered to the right. The flight instructor attempted to correct back to the runway, but the airplane continued off the runway and ground looped to the right. The left wing and horizontal stabilizer sustained substantial damage. Examination of the airplane revealed the tailwheel fitting had separated near the weld gap between the fitting cross tube and the attachment brace. Metallurgical examination of the fracture surfaces identified corrosion pits where the fatigue cracks had initiated. The corrosion pits formed along the outer diameter surface of the tube within the gap against the brace, which created crevice corrosion. As a result of the crevice corrosion, the landing gear failed during the landing rollout, which caused the pilot to lose directional control of the airplane and subsequent ground loop.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.