Cessna 182 N3292Y

Summary

On 7 May 2018 at about 17:39 local time, a Cessna 182 registered N3292Y was involved in an accident near Broomfield, Colorado, United States. One person was on board and one 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

7 May 2018 at 17:39

Classification

Accident

Location

Broomfield, Colorado, United States

Nearest airport

Rocky Mountain Metropolitan (BJC)

Coordinates

39.9089, -105.1172

Aircraft

Cessna 182

Registration

N3292Y

Category

Airplane

Year built

1962

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Denver → Denver

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN18LA162

1 person had minor injuries.

The overstress fracture of the upper link of the nose landing gear torque link assembly, which resulted in the pilot’s inability to maintain directional control during landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot had conducted a personal flight to a grass airstrip, where he completed two uneventful full-stop landings before returning to the departure airport for a final landing. The pilot reported that on the final landing the airplane initially touched down on the main landing gear, but when the nose gear contacted the runway, the airplane immediately swerved right and nosed over in the grass beside the runway, resulting in substantial damage to the vertical stabilizer, rudder, and right wing strut. A witness reported seeing the airplane on final approach with its nose wheel rotated about 75° from its normal alignment. The upper link arm of the nose landing gear torque link assembly had fractured near its upper end, which allowed the nose wheel to rotate freely on the landing gear strut. A laboratory examination revealed evidence of a downward bending overstress failure. Although the examination also identified an isolated area of preexisting fatigue on the right flange and a closed crack on the left flange, they did not contribute to the bending overstress failure of the upper torque link. Based on the available evidence, the upper link arm fractured earlier in the flight, and the pilot would have been unaware of the damage to the nose gear before the final landing.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.