The pilot reported he was landing at the airport in Watkins, Colorado, in his tailwheel-equipped Cessna 195 when it suddenly swerved to the right shortly after the tailwheel contacted the runway surface during the landing roll.
He applied left rudder and brake to regain directional control, but the airplane veered off the right side of the runway into a grass area.
The left main landing gear (MLG) spring fractured where the spring entered the fuselage, which resulted in the airplane coming to rest on the lower left fuselage in a left wing down attitude.
The left wing, left aileron, and the fuselage sustained substantial damage. The pilot sustained minor injuries in the crash.
Post-accident examination of the left MLG spring revealed a preexisting fatigue crack that initiated from the upper forward edge of the spring adjacent to the fuselage.
The fatigue crack likely reduced the overall strength of the landing gear spring which resulted in its separation during the landing roll.
Probable Cause: The separation of the left main landing gear spring during landing roll due to a preexisting fatigue crack.
To download the final report. Click here. This will trigger a PDF download to your device.
This October 2021 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
With regard to the leading comment: The loss of the left gear leg would, indeed, cause the aircraft to go off the right side of the runway. That remaining gear leg would create a great deal of drag moment. Yes, the wingtip is further out, but the tire on the right side is a much more powerful source of drag, especially when the gear leg flexes outward, offering more rubber surface area to the ground. Don’t ask, please, how I know.
Oh, and it’s not a separate “spring” that failed. The 195 has flat, spring steel gear.
Makes sense—thanks!
(& I WON‘T ask how you know…)
Tom
I admit I’m having a bit of trouble with this picture and the sequence of events stated in the pilot’s hand-written Narrative History:
Landed with a left crosswind.
If the left main gear “separated during the landing roll”…on the runway, wouldn’t it have veered off the left side of the runway?
Sounds like it actually failed AFTER he lost control, went off the right side, and trundled through the grass.
BTW: That grass surface may be “flat”, but it’s not smooth.
Was wondering the same. Maybe the left gear failed initially in such a way that the tire was pointed to the right.
Brittle fracture caused by cyclic loading in a spring! That’s inexcusable in a machine costing what airplanes cost. I would have accepted that kind of failure in my 1953 Plymouth, but not a Cessna product. Pathetic and inexcusable. Just goes to show you reliance on a big name in the business doesn’t guarantee quality. It’s just an illusion.
Regards/J
Before I impugn a reputable company…
I‘d want to know how much abuse this 3,350 lb Cessna 195 has endured during the last 69 years & 4,200 hours. How many hard landings, bad bounces, rough field ops… ground loops?
I don’t see a follow-on, fleet-wide
Airworthiness Directive that addresses this; so apparently, the FAA isn’t too concerned.
No, from the metallurgical report, the fracture started from a corrosion pit at the top of the leading edge.!
Note that there is a lot of paint chipped off from FOD, which allowed rust and corrosion to make a deep pit.
I’m pretty sure that the leaf spring gear leg was designed for a long cyclic load life.
Engine valve springs undergo a much higher number to load cycles and they don’t seem to fail very often.
Please make constructive comments…. or don’t comment at all.!
My comments ARE constructive, and my criticism of that machine and owner is well-deserved. Sorry you don’t like it. Airplanes are not old farm pickup trucks. Putting flying gas tanks in the air requires extreme attention to detail and diligence, not Saturday morning maintenance on a venerable old vehicle — change the oil (and maybe the filter, too) and a splash of paint here and there to cover a rust spot, and ‘good as new!.’ NOT!
Luckily the pilot survived and no innocent persons on the ground were harmed. Perhaps someday all GA hobbyists will awaken to the need for extreme diligence over their flying machines. Or maybe not, and earn accolades at their memorial services. The general public doesn’t excuse technical glitches as noted with the B737 Max, nor should it tolerate slippages in maintenance exhibited by some GA hobbyists. We don’t tolerate ineptitude in doctors, accountants, lawyers and the military, and neither should we excuse it in the GA hobby. I won’t. Then there’s the increase in insurance premiums caused by payouts on such ‘accidents waiting to happen.
Regards/J
With only a twenty plus year old student pilot ticket from 2000, please help us understand based on your years of experience flying and maintaining old airplanes….
I wondered how long it would take for someone to say that. Thanks.
Obviously coming from someone who’s never owned or been responsible for maintaining an aircraft. And you must personally know how this aircraft was maintained in order to be so critical of its owner’s practices? You obviously assume any mechanical failure is the owner/operator’s fault and of course could be prevented. Everything you state shows you have no connection to reality, especially when it comes to general aviation.
This gear leg failure is a failure of the owner to do maintenance on the rust and pitting. It’s NOT a design issue by Cessna as you implied..!
There are some recent design failures.
I live on a rough gravel road. A neighbor’s Toyota Camry Kept losing air in 3 tires.
the dealer found that the cast aluminum wheels had cracks allowing air to escape.
He had to buy 4 forged aluminum wheels that would take to shockand vibration of the gravel road.!
The engineering & metallurgy have obvious advanced in the 70 yrs since this 195 rolled off the line. I’d applaud the 1940’s engineers on their design.
The spring steel gear leg was designed by Steve Wittman in the 30’s.
He sold the design to Cessna.
Design of springs has been well understood for over 100 years.1
Wow.!! who knew that this could happen ?
My Cessna is only 10 years newer but has the same 4,200+ hours on it.
My next trip to my hangar will be to look closely at the gear legs, and then sand and paint them. [ the leading edges get a lot of fod attacks ].
Might want to review the AMM on this. There are specific call outs on how to refinish the landing gear legs on Cessna aircraft. The flat steel legs on the 100 series are shot peened and are only allowed to be refinished in certain ways which can cost thousands of dollars on top of removal, paint and installation.
Yes, the Cessna 100 series supplement of 2007 has specific info on inspection, corrosion removal and refinishing.
” Landing Gear
Main Gear
5-5A CORROSION CONTROL ON LANDING GEAR SPRINGS.”
Thanks, I’ll be inspecting my gear springs.