CEN13LA531
2013-08-30 · Paris, Texas, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed
Airport PRX
Current FAA registration · N862
- Make / Model
- CESSNA/WEAVER 305E
- Year of manufacture
- 1995 · 18 years old at event
- Engine
- CONT MOTOR O-470 SERIES (230 hp)
- Seats / Engines
- 4 seats · 1 engine
- Last airworthiness date
- 19951228
- ADS-B equipped
- Yes — Mode-S ABD644
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The failure of a landing gear O-ring, which prevented the pilot from being able to maintain directional control of the airplane during landing.
Factual narrative
On August 30, 2013, at 1930 central daylight time, a Weaver Cessna 305E, N862, nosed-over and impacted the runway during landing at Cox Field Airport (PRX), Paris, Texas. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the wings and vertical stabilizer. The private pilot was uninjured. The airplane was registered to and operated by the pilot under 14 CFR Part 91 as a personal flight that was not operating on a flight plan. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the local flight that originated from PRX. In a written statement provided to the Federal Aviation Administration, the pilot stated that the airplane touched down on the main landing gear wheels during a wheel landing on runway 17. The engine power was at idle and after about 4-5 seconds, the right main landing gear started to oscillate causing a braking effect. To compensate, the pilot added left brake. The propeller then contacted the runway surface and the airplane suddenly nosed-over. An airplane logbook entry dated September 25, 2013, stated that inspection of the Cessna L-19 castoring landing gear revealed that the outside O-ring was blown resulting in insufficient fluid pressure. The entry made reference to the Cessna L-19 Maintenance Manual, page 4-53, figure 4-29. A National Transportation Safety Board Aircraft Accident/Incident Report (Form 6120.1) was emailed to the pilot on September 20, 2013, and on November 25, 2013. Form 6120.1 was not received from the pilot. After touchdown, the right main landing gear began to oscillate and brake. The pilot applied the left brake to compensate for the right main landing gear braking; the propeller then contacted the runway, and the airplane nosed over. Examination of the right main landing gear revealed that the outside O-ring was blown, which prevented the pilot from being able to maintain directional control of the airplane during landing. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12
NTSB Findings
FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.
- C Aircraft-Aircraft systems-Landing gear system-Main landing gear attach sec-Failure - C
- C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Attain/maintain not possible - C
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2013_CEN13LA531.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
Search this event elsewhere
External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.
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Related research
Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (maintenance). All research papers
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2026 · Journal article (IJAAA) From Reactive to Predictive: A hybrid Trust-Mediated Adoption Framework for Data-Driven Maintenance in Distributed-Authority Aviation Environments
Modern aviation maintenance operates within increasingly data-intensive technological environments, yet the operational integration of predictive maintenance into routine decision-making remains incon…
- Semantic Scholar 2026 · Article (Reliability Engineering & System Safety) Understanding human error in military aviation maintenance: The role of Performance shaping factors, cognitive workload and error orientation
- Semantic Scholar 2025 · Article (Applied Sciences) Decision-Making Framework for Aviation Safety in Predictive Maintenance Strategies
The implementation of predictive maintenance (PM) in aviation presents unique challenges due to strict safety requirements, complex operational environments, and regulatory constraints.
- Semantic Scholar 2024 · Article (Defence Science Journal) Modelling of Human Factors in Aviation Maintenance Using HFACS ME Human Factors Analysis and Classification System Maintenance Extension and Bayesian Network
Aircraft maintenance is a complex task involving a skilled human workforce, spare parts, and various other resources. Human factors are an inherent element of the human workforce.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2024 · Journal article (JAAER) A New Trajectory in UAV Safety: Leveraging Reinforcement Learning for Distance Maintenance Under Wind Variations
In the field of aviation, safety is a critical cornerstone, and the operation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) systems is deeply connected with this principle.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2024 · Journal article (JAAER) Low-Resource Automatic Speech Recognition Domain Adaptation – A Case-Study in Aviation Maintenance
With timeliness and efficiency being critical in the aviation maintenance industry, the need has been growing for smart technological solutions that optimize and streamline the different underlying ta…