NTSB CAROL · Event
Event CEN14LA210
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
A cracked nose landing gear pulley, which resulted in the binding of the nosewheel steering system.
Factual narrative
On April 19, 2014, about 1500 eastern daylight time, a Rockwell International 114, N4890W, sustained substantial damage when it veered off the left side of Runway 06 while landing at the Kirsch Municipal Airport (IRS), Sturgis, Michigan. The pilot and one passenger were not injured. The airplane was registered to and operated by the pilot under the provisions of the 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, which was not operating on a flight plan. The airplane departed from the Fulton County Airport (RCR), Rochester, Indiana, about 1430. The pilot reported that he applied full left rudder and right aileron during the approach for landing due to a right crosswind. He reported that the winds were steady below 400 feet above ground level from 100 degrees at 8 knots. When the nose landing gear touched down on the runway, the airplane immediately veered to the left. He applied full right rudder and right brake, but without effect. The airplane veered off the runway and the nose gear hit a hole, which resulted in the right wing impacting the terrain and sustaining substantial damage. The examination of the nose landing gear steering system revealed that one of the pulleys on the right side of the nose landing gear was cracked and would not turn. Further examination revealed that it was possible for the steering cable to bind in the crack of the pulley and not allow the nose gear to move. The pilot reported that, due to a right crosswind, he applied full left rudder and right aileron during the approach for landing. When the nose landing gear touched down on the runway, the airplane immediately veered to the left. The pilot applied full right rudder and right brake to no effect. The airplane veered off the runway and the nose gear hit a hole, which resulted in the right wing impacting the terrain. The examination of the nose landing gear steering system revealed that one of the pulleys on the right side of the nose landing gear was cracked and would not turn. Further examination revealed that it was possible for the steering cable to bind in the crack of the pulley and not allow the nose gear to move. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12
NTSB Findings
Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).
- C Aircraft-Aircraft systems-Landing gear system-Landing gear steering system-Malfunction - C
- C Aircraft-Aircraft systems-Landing gear system-Landing gear steering system-Fatigue/wear/corrosion - C
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2014_CEN14LA210.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
Beyond the agency record
Search this event elsewhere.
Pre-filled searches into the sources where news + community discussion of aviation events lives. External sources are reported, not agency. Treat them as signal that something happened, not as fact about what happened.
Entity-clustered aviation events in the press — last 24 hr + 30-day archive.
Official agency record + docket.
Investigative docket: factual reports, photos, transcripts.
Long-running aviation incident database (Flight Safety Foundation).
Community NTSB synthesis blog — often has photos and witness reports.
Gold-standard aviation incident blog.
Aviation industry news search.
GA pilot forum — informed but rumor-prone.
GA pilot subreddit search.
Tail-number page — flight history (free tier limited).
AOPA Air Safety Institute search.
Mainstream press coverage. Recent events only.
Privacy-preserving news search.
External links open in a new tab. We don't ingest their content; we deep-link search queries.
Related research
What the literature says.
Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type. Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2022 · Journal article (IJAAA)
Establishing Commercial Aviation Safety Privilege: Court Precedent versus Statute
This concept paper evaluates the pros and cons of establishing commercial aviation safety privilege beyond the almost uniquely United States Department of Defense (DoD) legal protection built upon cou…
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2020 · Conference paper
Under Pressure: Decision Making in Aircraft Maintenance and the Role of Gender
In aircraft maintenance, leaders are under near-constant pressure to maintain airworthiness. Every minute an aircraft cannot fly due to maintenance represents financial waste.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Abstract
U.S. Civil Rotorcraft Accidents, 1963 through 1997
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has recorded 8,436 rotorcraft accidents during the period mid - 1963 through the end of 1997.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Technical Memorandum (TM)
U.S. Civil Rotorcraft Accidents, 1963 Through 1997
Narrative summary data produced by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has been obtained and analyzed for all 8,436 U.S.
- NASA NTRS 2018 · Conference Paper
The effects of pilot stress factors on handling quality assessments during US/German helicopter agility flight tests
Flight tests were conducted with two helicopters to study and evaluate the effects of helicopter characteristics and pilot and task demands on performance in nap-of-the-earth flight.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2015 · Journal article (IJAAA)
Bio-Fuel Alternatives in South African Airways (SAA) Operations - Is it an Effective Response to Vulnerability over Carbon Taxes and Penalty?
The paper did a comparative analysis of the carbon emission and European Union Emission Trading Surcharges (EU ETS) of South African Airways (SAA) current fleet that used aviation jet A1 fuel and the …
Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗