Cessna 185F N85LC

Summary

On 15 September 1999 at about 00:30 local time, a Cessna 185F registered N85LC, operated by Tamarack Air Ltd., was involved in an accident near Delta Junction, Alaska, United States. 3 people were on board and 2 had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

15 September 1999 at 00:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Delta Junction, Alaska, United States

Nearest airport

Rockstad's Airstrip

Coordinates

63.7000, -144.8898

Aircraft

Cessna 185F

Registration

N85LC

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Tamarack Air Ltd.

Operating rule

Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter

Purpose of flight

Unknown

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Fairbanks → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ANC99LA145

2 people had minor injuries.

Corrosion and a fatigue failure of the lower end of the landing gear strut. Factors in the accident were the manufacturer's and the FAA's insufficient standards/requirements for life limits and inspection procedures.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airline transport certificated pilot was landing a tailwheel equipped airplane on an airstrip near a remote cabin on an on-demand air taxi flight. The airstrip had been used by the pilot in the past. Near the end of the landing roll, the left main landing gear strut fractured above the left wheel axle. The wheel and the lower end of the gear strut separated from the airplane. The upper portion of the gear strut dug into the ground, and the airplane nosed over. The airplane received damage to the right wing, propeller, the vertical stabilizer, and the rudder. The lower end of the gear strut has four holes drilled through the metal to facilitate the installation of the wheel axle and brake assembly. An examination of the landing gear strut found areas of cracking, typical of fatigue, emanating from the inboard edge of the forward, upper bolt hole. One crack developed in an area of two small corrosion pits in the drilled hole. A second crack developed in an area of the fillet between the drilled hole, and the inboard surface of the strut. The cracks from the two areas combined to form one crack laterally across the strut and through the aft, upper bolt hole. The interior surfaces of the forward, upper bolt hole and fillet regions were pitted, consistent with the effects of corrosion. Neither the manufacturer nor the FAA, have established a life limit (hours or cycles) for the main landing gear strut. An annual inspection does not require disassembly of the axle from the gear strut. No inspection procedures, other than a general visual inspection of the landing gear, have been specified by the manufacturer, or the FAA.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.