The pilot departed Cloquet Airport (KCOQ) near Cloquet, Minnesota, and flew his Titan Tornado II south to Fish Lake, near Windom, Minnesota, to attend an event.
After the event was over, he taxied to an area of the lake where the “snow was hard-packed with no bumps, ruts, or chunks visible” to take off.
After reaching rotation speed, the right main landing gear leg sheared off and struck the vertical stabilizer.
The pilot was able to control the airplane with aileron and safely became airborne.
He flew back to KCOQ and advised Duluth Air Route Traffic Control Center that he was going to land on Big Lake, about five miles west of KCOQ, to prevent any further airplane damage from landing on asphalt.
During the landing, he applied full left aileron input and touched down on the left main landing gear wheel first and then lowered the nosewheel. The right wing dropped and slid along the ice. He counteracted with left rudder, spun 90° to the right, and came to a full upright stop.
Post-accident examination revealed that the airplane sustained substantial damage to the vertical stabilizer from the impact of the right gear leg after it separated from the fuselage gear leg socket.
An examination of the landing gear revealed that bilateral fatigue cracks originated from the inner wall of a cross-drilled hole near the right gear leg socket. Eventually, overload and bending stresses in the direction of the fatigue cracks resulted in the right gear leg separating.
There was an identical hole drilled in each landing gear strut. The purpose of the hole is unknown.
The pilot told investigators the hole was covered by a zip tie that was used to secure the brake line.
Probable Cause: The fatigue failure of the right landing gear leg that resulted in its separation from the airplane during takeoff.
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This February 2023 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.
Can’t do much about what you cannot know or see; I wonder what the porpose of the drilled hole is?