Cessna U206B N3488L

Summary

On 2 July 2000 at about 18:00 local time, a Cessna U206B registered N3488L was involved in an accident near Yellow Pine, Idaho, United States. 4 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

2 July 2000 at 18:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Yellow Pine, Idaho, United States

Nearest airport

Johnson Creek (3U2)

Coordinates

45.0205, -115.5210

Aircraft

Cessna U206B

Registration

N3488L

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

McCall → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

SEA00LA120

Nobody was injured.

The locknut was not secured and backed off the bolt. An improper maintenance installation was a factor.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that he set-up for a soft field landing on a grass airstrip. The airplane touched down on the main landing gear, and immediately after the nose wheel touched down, grass and dirt started to come over the windshield and the airplane rapidly decelerated, subsequently nosing over. After the accident, it was noted that the nose wheel had separated from the nose wheel fork. The axle bolt, both buckets, and a locknut were found on the grass airstrip along the aircraft's ground track. Inspection of the parts and a review of the maintenance records disclosed evidence that the nose gear and tire installation were for a Piper PA32. The accident aircraft was a Cessna U206B. Although the two installations are similar, the Piper installation used an axle bolt that is secured with a lock nut (on the aircraft at the time of the accident). The Cessna installation used an axle bolt that is drilled for a castle nut and cotter key installation. An inspection of the nut and bolt threads was conducted at the NTSB Materials Lab. The specialist reported that the threads on both the bolt and nut showed no evidence of excessive loading or stripping damage. Due to the lack of damage to the axle bolt and nut, it appeared that the bolt was not locked down at the last maintenance inspection and backed off.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.