CHI95LA073

Factual narrative

On January 20, 1995, at 1945 eastern standard time (est), a Cessna 421C, N421AW, registered to the Angola Wire Company, Incorporated, of Angola, Indiana, and piloted by a commercially certificated pilot, was substantially damaged when its right main landing gear collapsed during landing roll on runway 5 (4,000' X 75' wet asphalt) at the Tri-State Steuben County Airport, Angola, Indiana. The 14 CFR Part 91 flight had been operating on an IFR flight plan. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The pilot and two passengers reported no injuries. The flight departed Louisville, Kentucky, at 1800 est. According to the pilot, the airplane was "on short final [and] was aligned with [the] runway centerline... ." He said he was compensating for a crosswind using rudder and aileron. As the airplane "leveled, flared, [the] left wheel touched followed by right main at which time the aircraft pulled to the right." One of the airplane's two passengers was sitting in the passenger cabin's rear seat. He said there was a left crosswind and that the pilot touched down the left main gear time first. He said the right main landing gear tire touched down hard followed by a "thud." After the thud sound the passenger saw the right wing descend until it contacted the runway surface. According to this passenger there was about a three-second time difference between the left and right landing gear touchdown. A second passenger said he felt a firm landing that was not different from what he had previously experienced. He said the landing was made on the left main landing gear first followed by the right main landing gear. According to this passenger, the wind was a little stronger than he had previously experienced. A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Principal Maintenance Inspector (POI) represented the NTSB during the on-scene investigation. The POI's visual examination of the fractured landing gear components revealed an overload fracture on the shock strut's outer sleeve. The upper end of the sleeve had a circumferentially outward deformation on it. Its lower attach end mounting bolt hole had metal shaved along the edge. A participating FAA Principal Operations Inspector reported the accident airplanes wing and horizontal stabilizer leading edge had approximately 1/4 to 1/2 inch of ice on them. His photographs showed the ice extending about 1/2 the distance between their leading edge and aft edge of the deicing boot. THE AIRPLANE TOUCHED DOWN ON THE LEFT MAIN LANDING GEAR AND THEN THE RIGHT MAIN LANDING GEAR. THE PILOT SAID THE AIRPLANE PULLED TO THE RIGHT AFTER ITS RIGHT TIRE HAD TOUCHED DOWN. A PASSENGER SAID THE RIGHT MAIN LANDING GEAR TOUCHED DOWN HARD. ITS TOUCH DOWN WAS FOLLOWED BY A 'THUD' SOUND. AFTER THE THUD SOUND THE RIGHT WING LOWERED UNTIL IT TOUCHED THE RUNWAY. THE ON-SCENE INVESTIGATION REVEALED OVERLOAD FRACTURES ON THE LANDING GEAR'S SHOCK STRUT SLEEVE AND METAL SHAVING IN THE STRUT'S LOWER ATTACH FITTING HOLE. THE LEADING EDGE DEICING BOOTS ON THE WING AND HORIZONTAL STABILIZER HAD 1/4 TO 1/2 INCH OF ICE COVERING ABOUT 50 PERCENT OF THEIR SURFACE. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12