Cessna 170A N9006A

Summary

On 25 September 2003 at about 22:00 local time, a Cessna 170A registered N9006A was involved in an accident near Skwentna, Alaska, 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

25 September 2003 at 22:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Skwentna, Alaska, United States

Coordinates

61.9267, -153.1800

Aircraft

Cessna 170A

Registration

N9006A

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Skwentna → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ANC03LA126

Nobody was injured.

An overload failure of the axle retaining nut/bolt assembly, which resulted in the separation of the axle/wheel assembly, and subsequent collapse of the right main landing gear strut during the landing roll.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The commercial certificated pilot was landing on a remote gravel area that was about 1,000 feet long, and 30 feet wide. The pilot said that during the landing roll, the airplane's right main landing gear suddenly collapsed. As the airplane slid on the gravel, the right gear strut was torn out of the fuselage, and the airplane received additional damage to the fuselage and right wing. After the accident, the pilot said he examined the right gear strut and discovered the right axle and wheel assembly were missing from the outboard end of the gear strut. After a search, the pilot located the wheel assembly and discovered that the nuts utilized to secure the attaching axle bolts to the gear strut, were stripped from their respective bolts. The pilot said he decided to wait until the next day before activating his airplane's emergency locator transmitter. He further said he decided to destroy his airplane by setting it on fire, as it would have been economically unfeasible to pay for repairs and helicopter transportation charges to remove the airplane from its remote location. The airplane was observed by search personnel as having burned.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.