Taree landing incident

[youngster]

Anyone know anything about a landing incident at Taree earlier today? It was reported with very scant detail by national press outlets.

 

 

[turboplanner]

News and Photo

 

http://www.manningrivertimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/light-plane-incident-at-taree-airport/2352102.aspx

 

 

[dazza 38]

Landing gear failure was probably caused by the ground rising up too fast and smashing into the undercarriage.

 

 

[dazza 38]

Do, lightwings have safety cables, to prevent a total colapse of the U/C if the shock cords break ?

 

 

[Teckair]

Do, lightwings have safety cables, to prevent a total colapse of the U/C if the shock cords break ?

Yes

 

 

[Camel]

Landing gear failure was probably caused by the ground rising up too fast and smashing into the undercarriage.

I was at Taree today and know the story. Speculating on any accident is not good for anyone and is best not put on public display and can lead to people getting a negative view on aviation in general.

 

 

[turboplanner]

On the other hand Camel; it may prevent a fatal tomorrow; we need to save lives, not reputations.

 

All of us may have been a hair's breadth away from dumping it just that little bit hard at times, so that's no big deal.

 

 

[fly_tornado]

Doesn't take much down draft to spoil the best of landings.

 

 

[kgwilson]

The incident was reported on 7 local news tonight but the comment below from the Manning River Times is typical of the media.

 

"Occupants had vacated the aircraft when media arrived and it is unclear how many people were aboard the aircraft at the time of the crash."

 

Given it was a 2 seat RA aircraft the "How many" comment is a sensational statement.

 

 

[dazza 38]

I was at Taree today and know the story. Speculating on any accident is not good for anyone and is best not put on public display and can lead to people getting a negative view on aviation in general.

Looking at the photo, I dont think im speculating.

 

 

[dazza 38]

Yes

Thanks Teckair.

 

 

[pylon500]

OK, here's a quick rundown, the report goes in tomorrow..

 

While training EFTO's a (no more than usual) heavy touchdown occurred.

 

Instead of the expected bounce, there was a loud bang whereupon the aircraft pitched onto it's nose and a wingtip causing substantial damage.

 

An undercarriage axle had snapped at a weld junction allowing the wheel to depart (found 150m's away!) and the end of the U/C leg to dig into the grass runway.

 

Picture below shows the cracked end of the axle (still in the wheel), orientation would be top of the axle at about 11 o'clock.

 

The dark grey area (4 to 7 o'clock) is all that was holding the axle together, the brown 'rusted' area is all crack.

 

The shiny, lumpy area across the top, is a really bad weld attempt (probably MIG) where some-one has found a crack and tried to fill it in.

 

There will now follow a period of annoyance as I rebuild my Lightwing.

 

Arthur.

 

 

 

[pylon500]

As a side note, if you own a Lightwing, I would seriously consider taking the time to pull off the wheels, clean down the axle at the leg juncture and do a dye penetrant test.

 

This failure has happened before.

 

Arthur.

 

 

[David Isaac]

Arthur, I am so sorry to hear that mate, your little Lightwing was looking so good at Gloucester on the weekend.

 

I am curious, just how legal is it to weld a cracked axle and shouldn't any weld be xrayed or at least carried out by a certified welder. Also a very interesting scenario given the previous owner. I guess you will be asking someone some hard questions.

 

 

[dazza 38]

Hi Athur, how long do you think it would have lasted, if the landing was not a bit heavy.It sounds like the axle was going to fail sooner or later. Are you going to try and find out who did the repair? Previous Owner maybe ?

 

 

[turboplanner]

Arthur that's great of you to share that information, particularly about previous breaks.

 

This gives us the chance to use some of the collective wisdom on here to lessen the chance of a similar occurrence, not just on Lightwing when it's least expected.

 

 

[pylon500]

There's actually an entry in the maint. log describing other repairs nearby, and quoting the repairer, but nothing about the axle.

 

As for work by certified welders, I'm a little unsure if certified (25-55-24) RAAus aircraft require this, or if it's just whether the final L2 is willing to accept the work and sign the log?

 

As for the previous owner, I'm a little more unhappy at the manufacturer for not upgrading the material as the aircraft 'grew', and for not letting more people know about the problem.

 

My original club had the same failure years ago on serial #5, I though that by #83 things would have improved.....

 

Don't get me wrong, the Lightwing is a great plane and I can't wait to get it back in the air, but I will be doing a lot of close looking while I rebuild.

 

Arthur.

 

 

[Tomo]

Thanks for the run down Arthur, appreciated. Sorry to hear about the incident though, but am glad it wasn't more serious.

 

Welding up cracks is a reasonably serious exercise to do properly. As we have seen here.

 

 

[Teckair]

OK, here's a quick rundown, the report goes in tomorrow..While training EFTO's a (no more than usual) heavy touchdown occurred.

Instead of the expected bounce, there was a loud bang whereupon the aircraft pitched onto it's nose and a wingtip causing substantial damage.

 

An undercarriage axle had snapped at a weld junction allowing the wheel to depart (found 150m's away!) and the end of the U/C leg to dig into the grass runway.

 

Picture below shows the cracked end of the axle (still in the wheel), orientation would be top of the axle at about 11 o'clock.

 

The dark grey area (4 to 7 o'clock) is all that was holding the axle together, the brown 'rusted' area is all crack.

 

The shiny, lumpy area across the top, is a really bad weld attempt (probably MIG) where some-one has found a crack and tried to fill it in.

 

There will now follow a period of annoyance as I rebuild my Lightwing.

 

Arthur.

Sorry to hear about your misfortune Arthur. We were told there is a AD to put a solid steel insert inside the hollow axels on the Lightwing which is what we did, it was just a bit of solid bright mild steel rod available from most engineering shops.

Regards Richard.

 

 

[ave8rr]

Thanks for the report Arthur. As this Report goes into RAAUS tomorrow, I would like to think that that reports like this would be on the website within hours and, at a minimum that those owners of this type of aircraft be notified by the quickest way possible. My pennies worth.

 

Cheers

 

 

[fly_tornado]

How was the student?

 

 

[DAVID SEE]

Thanks for the report, I'll be checking mine before my next flight. I have No. 2

 

Cheers Davo.

 

 

[Patrick Normoyle]

Arthur, thanks for the open and honest post regarding the incident, so many times pride gets in the way of the truth and the real safety issue goes by the way. I hope you can get your girl up and running very soon. As for the welding, i would have thought that any crack would have been best replaced and not patched with a fill weld, there is no way of checking where the cracks extend to, how long they have been there and to what extent corrosion has taken it's toll. Also, had the area been heat treated to harden the material after welding ? If you do find out who welded the crack ( if that is what happened ) you know where to shove the broken axel ! ! !

 

 

[RetiredRacer]

Check out the comment on the newspapers website. Scroll down below the story.

 

 

[turboplanner]

Sort of came out wrong didn't it. If they'd been at Taree they'd have missed the last one anyway. That's fieries for you..............................................(