Piper PA-28-181 N79MS

Summary

On 19 August 2020 at about 03:05 local time, a Piper PA-28-181 registered N79MS, operated by UAA International Inc., was involved in an accident near Upland, California, United States. 2 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 August 2020 at 03:05

Classification

Accident

Location

Upland, California, United States

Nearest airport

Cable Airport (CCB)

Coordinates

34.1400, -117.6497

Aircraft

Piper PA-28-181

Registration

N79MS

Category

Airplane

Year built

1978

Engines

1

Operator

UAA International Inc.

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

WPR20LA306

Nobody was injured.

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

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

After landing, as the pilot was taxiing back to the runway for another takeoff, the right landing gear collapsed, and the right wing struck the runway resulting in substantial damage. Examination of the landing gear bolts revealed they failed due to reverse bending fatigue cracking. The size of the fatigue cracking area on the fracture surfaces versus the overstress area indicated the fatigue likely grew over time under low-to-moderate stress. The occurrence of the fatigue cracking on all the hex-head bolts and the similarities of the fatigue cracking areas on the fracture surfaces were consistent with some amount of movement on that side of the landing gear, which indicates there was likely an issue with preloading of the bolts.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.