New Market, VA, USA
N1984A
Piper PA18
According to the pilot of the tailwheel-equipped airplane, the airplane immediately rolled right and pitched forward at touchdown. The pilot's corrective control inputs had "no effect"; the airplane continued 100 ft past its touchdown point and came to rest facing about 40° off centerline with the tailwheel on the runway centerline. The right main landing gear leg and shock/dampener fractured, and the right wing was substantially damaged. Metallurgical examination of the right main landing gear leg and gear shock/dampener revealed no pre-impact anomalies, and the fracture surfaces of each displayed features consistent with overload failure. Thus, it is likely that the failure of the landing gear was a result of a hard landing.
On December 15, 2019, about 1300 eastern standard time, a Piper PA-18A, N1984A, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident while landing at the New Market Airport (8W2), New Market, Virginia. The pilot was not injured. The airplane was operated as Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 positioning flight. The pilot reported that the purpose of the flight was to deliver the airplane from its previous owner to its new owner and that he had just landed "uneventfully" and purchased fuel at 8W2. After he purchased fuel, he completed a traffic pattern at 8W2, and planned a stop-and-go landing on runway 24 before continuing to Lonesome Pine Airport (LNP), Wise, Virginia. According to the pilot, "I rounded out over the runway numbers and touched down approximately 150 feet past the threshold. As soon as the wheels touched the ground, the airplane immediately rolled right and pitched forward." The pilot made remedial flight control and braking inputs to maintain aircraft control "with no effect." The airplane continued 100 ft past its touchdown point and came to rest facing about 200° with the tailwheel on the runway centerline. The right main landing gear leg and the right main landing gear shock/dampener fractured, and the airplane rested on the left main gear, the tailwheel, and the right wing, which was substantially damaged. The pilot held a commercial pilot certificate with ratings for airplane single engine land, multiengine land, and instrument airplane. His most recent Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) first class medical certificate was issued December 6, 2019. The pilot reported 768 total hours of flight experience, of which 4 hours were in the accident airplane make and model. According to FAA records, the airplane was manufactured in 1952 and was powered by a Lycoming O-320-B2B 160-horsepower engine. Its most recent annual inspection was completed August 1, 2019 at 4,343.9 total aircraft hours, and the airplane had accrued 23 hours since that date. The pilot reported that, other than the landing gear collapse, there was nothing wrong with the performance and handling of the airplane. The right main landing gear leg and the right main landing gear shock/dampener were retained and examined by an NTSB Materials Research Engineer. The examination revealed no pre-impact anomalies with the dampener or the gear leg, and that the fracture surfaces of each displayed features consistent with overload failure.
The pilot's improper touchdown, which resulted in a hard landing and an overload failure of the right main landing gear leg and its associated shock/dampener.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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