Cessna 421C N880JS

Summary

On 5 April 2023 at about 18:00 local time, a Cessna 421C registered N880JS, operated by Bravo Aviation LLC, was involved in an accident near Leesburg, Virginia, 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

5 April 2023 at 18:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Leesburg, Virginia, United States

Nearest airport

Leesburg Exec (JYO)

Coordinates

39.0780, -77.5575

Aircraft

Cessna 421C

Registration

N880JS

Category

Airplane

Year built

1979

Engines

2

Operator

Bravo Aviation LLC

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Executive/Corporate

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Smyrna → Leesburg

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA23LA180

Nobody was injured.

Separation of the left man landing gear scissor hardware, which resulted in a loss of directional control and subsequent runway excursion during landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was landing the airplane and reported that as the main landing gear touched down on the runway the airplane immediately veered to the left. The pilot applied right rudder control input but was unable to control the airplane’s direction. The left main landing gear then collapsed as the airplane departed the runway surface and the airplane came to a stop off the left side of the runway. The airplane’s left wing was substantially damaged during the accident. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector examined the airplane after the accident. He observed that the left main landing gear trunnion was cracked and that the strut had separated from the trunnion. The inspector also found that the hardware connecting the scissor link was missing and that the scissor link did not display damage consistent with a shearing action or other abnormal stress. Given this information it is likely that the hardware securing the scissor was not present at the time of the landing, which allowed the left main landing gear wheel to freely castor about the strut, resulting in the loss of directional control at touchdown.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.