SEA94LA172

Factual narrative

On July 5, 1994, approximately 1617 mountain daylight time, an experimental Pitts S-1 was substantially damaged during roll out when the right wheel/axle attachment hardware failed after landing at Heber City, Utah. The private pilot, who owned the aircraft, was uninjured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, which originated at Heber City at 1601. There was no fire and no report of an ELT actuating. FAA inspectors noted that the nuts and bolts securing the axle to the aircraft were excessively worn, and indicated that the nuts had sheared their threads before separating. The pilot noted that four 1/4-20 bolts failed, causing wheel separation and subsequent gear failure, and indicated that the bolts had not been correctly torqued. THE PILOT STATED THAT HE LANDED SOMEWHAT HARD ON THE MAIN LANDING GEAR, RECORDING 2 G'S ON HIS ACCELEROMETER. THE RIGHT MAIN LANDING GEAR WHEEL AND AXLE SEPARATED AND THE LANDING GEAR STRUT COLLAPSED. POST-CRASH INSPECTION REVEALED THAT THE FOUR ATTACHMENT BOLTS WERE EXCESSIVELY WORN AND WERE APPARENTLY IMPROPERLY TORQUED. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12