Hawker Siddeley HUNTER N343AX

Summary

On 9 May 2019 at about 14:15 local time, a Hawker Siddeley HUNTER registered N343AX, operated by Airborne Tactical Advantage Company, was involved in an accident near Newport News, Virginia, 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

9 May 2019 at 14:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Newport News, Virginia, United States

Nearest airport

Newport News/Williamsburg Intl (PHF)

Coordinates

37.1319, -76.4931

Aircraft

Hawker Siddeley HUNTER

Registration

N343AX

Category

Airplane

Year built

1959

Engines

1

Operator

Airborne Tactical Advantage Company

Operating rule

Public Use

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Newport News → Newport News

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA19LA169

Nobody was injured.

The failure of the right main landing gear due to a fatigue cracking.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was conducting a training flight under the supervision of a flight instructor in a second airplane. Following a touch-and-go landing, the landing gear was retracted; however, the right main landing gear indicated unsafe. After consultation with the flight instructor, the pilot again attempted to lower the landing gear and then observed a normal indication that all three landing gear were down and locked into position. As the pilot turned onto the downwind leg of the traffic pattern, he noticed a hydraulic warning light. The flight instructor also noticed fluid streaming from the right side of the airplane. Shortly thereafter, the pilot noted low hydraulic pressure and it was decided he would conduct a no-flap landing, utilizing the remaining hydraulic pressure to boost the flight controls. Immediately upon touchdown, the right main landing gear collapsed. The pilot was unable to control the airplane and it veered off the right side of the runway before stopping. The right main landing gear strut was broken in two parts. Examination of the broken right gear components revealed small crack features consistent with a preexisting progressive crack at the base of the aft pivot pin bore. It is likely that the preexisting fatigue crack in the landing gear propagated to the point of failure. The crack also likely became large enough for hydraulic fluid to leak following the touch-and-go landing and failed catastrophically when the airplane touched down during the final landing.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.