Cessna 185E N1613M

Summary

On 20 September 1998 at about 00:36 local time, a Cessna 185E registered N1613M was involved in an accident near Mesa, Arizona, United States. One person was 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

20 September 1998 at 00:36

Classification

Accident

Location

Mesa, Arizona, United States

Nearest airport

Falcon Field (FFZ)

Coordinates

33.4399, -111.8498

Aircraft

Cessna 185E

Registration

N1613M

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Rock Springs → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX98LA299

Nobody was injured.

The failure of the wheel assembly retention nuts and subsequent wheel separation.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that when he applied the brakes during the landing rollout, the left wheel separated from the main landing gear. The aircraft then veered off to the left side of the runway. The aircraft was equipped with a snow-ski adapter kit, which had been installed on November 20, 1972. The four-wheel assembly retention bolts had sheared off upon the landing touch down, with the upper two bolts failing first. The nuts were then stripped off from the lower two bolts. The left landing gear wheel assembly separated from the landing gear strut. Research revealed that there is no inspection criteria to inspect the wheel assembly retention bolts.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.