Investigation Docket - National Transportation Safety Board: https://dms.ntsb.gov/pubdms
Aviation Accident Data Summary - National Transportation Safety Board: https://app.ntsb.gov/pdf
The National Transportation Safety Board did not travel to the scene of this accident.
NTSB Identification: ANC15LA023
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Thursday, April 23, 2015 in Nome, AK
Probable Cause Approval Date: 02/13/2017
Aircraft: CESSNA 185, registration: N4554F
Injuries: 1 Uninjured.
NTSB investigators may not have traveled in support of this investigation and used data provided by various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
The commercial pilot was conducting a personal cross-country flight in the wheel/ski-equipped airplane. The pilot reported that, just as the airplane became airborne, he heard a “loud bang” and that he then noticed that the left wheel/ski assembly had rotated up and near the left window. The pilot then chose to return to the departure runway for an emergency landing, and he crabbed the airplane into the wind to hold the wheel/ski assembly close to the airplane during the return flight back to the airport. During touchdown, as the airplane settled onto the runway, the left main landing gear leg contacted the ground and collapsed, and the left wing struck the ground.
A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the left main landing gear leg assembly fractured near the axle through bolts. The fractured gear leg and maintenance records were not made available for examination; therefore, the reason for the failure of the left main landing gear leg could not be determined.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:
The failure of the left main landing gear leg for reasons that could not be determined based on the available evidence.
On April 23, 2015, about 1240 Alaska daylight time, a wheel/ski equipped Cessna 185 airplane, N4554F, sustained substantial damage during an emergency landing, shortly after takeoff from the Nome City Field, Nome, Alaska. The airplane was registered to, and operated by, the certificated commercial pilot as a visual flight rules (VFR) personal flight under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The pilot, who was the sole occupant, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the flight destined to White Mountain, Alaska.
During a telephone interview the pilot reported to the NTSB investigator-in-charge that after a normal takeoff roll, just as the airplane became airborne, he heard a "loud bang," and then he noticed that the left side wheel/ski assembly had rotated up and near the left side window. The pilot then elected to return to the departure runway for an emergency landing, and he crabbed the airplane into the wind as to hold the wheel/ski assembly close to the airplane during the return flight back to the airport.
During touchdown, as airplane settled to the runway and the left main landing gear leg contacted the ground, the left main landing gear leg collapsed, and the left wing struck the ground, sustaining substantial damage.
A postaccident inspection of the airplane by an FAA inspector revealed that the left main landing gear leg assembly fractured near the axle through bolts, which caused the ski to rotate up near the window during takeoff. The fractured gear leg and maintenance records were not made available to the NTSB for examination.
The aircraft had been modified via Supplemental Type Certificate (STC), SA1907NM, for the instillation of Schnider Model SWS-4000 C-19 wheel skies.
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A privately-owned Cessna 185 airplane made an emergency landing at Nome’s City Field airport on Thursday afternoon.
Update Thursday, 3:45 pm: The Nome Police Department received a distress call regarding a small aircraft “that possibly would not make the city landing strip” just before 1 o’clock on Thursday.
The Nome Volunteer Ambulance and Fire Departments were dispatched along with law enforcement officers.
Nome Fire Chief Jim West, Jr. says the single-engine Cessna 185 departed Nome earlier on Thursday, and was on its way to White Mountain when the pilot noticed the plane’s landing gear was out of alignment on one side.
The pilot returned to Nome, and performed an emergency landing at City Field that further damaged the plane’s landing gear — but resulted in no injuries, according to emergency personnel.
Nome Police confirm that the pilot was the only individual on board, and was not injured.
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