Cessna A185 N85CF

Summary

On 19 July 2016 at about 18:30 local time, a Cessna A185 registered N85CF was involved in an accident near Illiamna, Alaska, 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

19 July 2016 at 18:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Illiamna, Alaska, United States

Coordinates

59.9458, -156.3595

Aircraft

Cessna A185

Registration

N85CF

Category

Airplane

Year built

1971

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Business

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Iliamna → Iliamna

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ANC16LA046

Nobody was injured.

The overstress fracture of the left main landing (MLG) gear axle attachment bolts and the subsequent separation of the left MLG wheel, which resulted in the pilot’s inability to control the airplane.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The commercial pilot reported that he made a normal approach and landing to an unimproved landing strip and that the left main landing gear (MLG) wheel assembly separated from the landing gear leg at the axle bolts during rollout. The gear leg then dug into the gravel landing surface, which resulted in a sudden left turn, ground loop, and subsequent substantial damage to the left wing, left aileron, and elevator. The pilot and the passenger stated that it did not feel as if the airplane hit anything during the landing rollout. The pilot also stated that the initiating event may have been a crosswind landing on a hard-surfaced runway with large tundra tires earlier in the week, during which he inadvertently "put a side load on the landing gear." Postaccident examination of the left MLG axle assembly and bolts revealed that the left axle had separated from the landing gear leg due to a rearward overload event. The initial separation was due to the shearing of the forward bolt threads by tensile forces on the bolts, which was followed by the bending deformation of the aft bolts, consistent with a fore-to-aft overload.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.