Event ANC96LA152

Factual narrative

On September 8, 1996, about 1216 Alaska daylight time, a wheel equipped Cessna 206F airplane, N9515G, sustained substantial damage while landing at the Talkeetna Airport, Talkeetna, Alaska. The airline transport certificated pilot and the sole passenger aboard were not injured. The local, 14 CFR Part 91 flight operated in visual meteorological conditions. During a telephone conversation with the NTSB investigator-in-charge on September 12, the pilot related he had departed the Talkeetna airport for a short flight to Bald Mountain. The purpose of the flight was to assess the short landing strip located at Bald Mountain, and to see if the pilot thought the airstrip was suitable to haul fuel into to support a generator operated by a utility company. The pilot stated the landing at Bald Mountain was uneventful. He said he did an initial touch and go landing, and then made another, full stop landing. He said he walked the airstrip, and that the biggest rocks were about the size of a man's fist. He said he thought the airstrip would be okay to haul fuel to. The pilot said the takeoff from Bald Mountain was normal, but upon touchdown at Talkeetna, the airplane's nosewheel made a screeching sound as soon as it touched the runway. The nosewheel subsequently collapsed, and the right wing struck the ground. Examination of the airplane's nosewheel landing gear by the pilot and FAA inspectors, disclosed a fractured nosewheel scissors drag link. The castellated nut which assists in holding the scissors links together was missing, and the pilot believes that the nut may have sheared prior to touchdown, allowing the bolt to fall out and the steerable nosewheel to caster freely. An FAA inspector and the pilot both noted the nosewheel tire appears to have a wear pattern which is consistent with the lower nosegear drag link rubbing against the nosegear tire. The nosegear fork was a larger than standard fork, and the nosegear tire was an oversized, 8:50 by 10 inch tire. The pilot reported that shortly after a normal touchdown on a paved runway, the nosegear suddenly collapsed. An examination of the nosegear assembly disclosed that nosegear drag link scissors assembly was disconnected, and that the retaining bolt connecting the scissors halves was missing. The loss of the bolt and the separation of the scissors allowed the nosewheel to caster freely. The nosegear was equipped with an oversized, 8:50 by 10 inch tire, and larger than standard nose fork. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12