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LAX85LA264

1985-05-30 · SAN JOSE, California, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport SJC

N22WC has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (KARLSEN DOUGLAS WC-7), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Factual narrative

WHILE LANDING THE RIGHT MAIN LANDING GEAR OF THE AIRCRAFT SEPERATED WHEN THE UPPER TORQUE KNEE LINK FAILED. AFTER THE GEAR SEPARATED THE AIRCRAFT SKIDDED OFF THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE RUNWAY COMING TO REST IN A GRASS AREA. METALLURGICAL EXAMINATION OF THE FAILED TORQUE KNEE REVEALED IT FAILED DUE TO FATIGUE CRACKING WHICH WAS CAUSED BY GOUGES IN THE SURFACE OF THE LINK WHICH CAUSED STRESS CONCENTRATIONS. THE GOUGES HAD BEEN PAINTED OVER. THE AIRCRAFT WAS MAINTAINED IN ACCORDANCE WITH BEECH AIRCRAFT CORPORTATIONS PROGRESSIVE MAINTENANCE PROGRAM WHICH REQUIRES THE LANDING GEAR TORQUE KNEE LINKS TO BE REPLACED OR OVERHAULED EACH 5 YEARS OR 5000 CYCLES. NO RECORD OF THIS HAVING BEEN ACCOMPLISHED COULD BE FOUND IN THE AIRCRAFTS LOGBOOKS. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1985_LAX85LA264.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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