Piper PA-44-180 N125MG

Summary

On 7 February 2021 at about 22:00 local time, a Piper PA-44-180 registered N125MG was involved in an accident near Redmond, Oregon, United States. 3 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

7 February 2021 at 22:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Redmond, Oregon, United States

Nearest airport

Roberts Fld (RDM)

Coordinates

44.2541, -121.1506

Aircraft

Piper PA-44-180

Registration

N125MG

Category

Airplane

Year built

2002

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR21LA117

Nobody was injured.

Failure of the landing gear strut piston tube due to fatigue cracking from corrosion pitting.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

During the instructional flight, the right main landing gear separated during landing roll following a normal touchdown. The separated right landing gear assembly then struck the rear edge of the wing, which resulted in substantial damage to the wing. Examination revealed that the right landing gear strut piston tube had failed due to two fatigue cracks that had originated from corrosion pits near a drilled hole. Two months before the accident, the manufacturer had issued a service letter applicable to the airplane that called for inspection of the strut piston tube for fatigue cracks. Performance of the inspection called for in the service letter would have discovered the cracks that led to the accident. Although the operator held a Part 141 certificate, they were not required to comply with the service letter.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.