Colorado Aviation Accidents & Incidents

On June 24, 2019, about 1025 mountain daylight time, a Piper PA-24 airplane, N5866P, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Greeley, Colorado. The private pilot and passenger were not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight.

The pilot reported that he completed a touch-and-go landing, which was uneventful, and he planned his next landing to be a full-stop landing. The pilot stated everything "was good" until touching down, when the airplane's right wing “dipped” and the nose veered left, causing the airplane to exit the runway surface. The airplane hit a taxiway light and continued into the grass on the south side of the runway, where it came to rest.

A flight instructor who witnessed the accident stated that, during the landing, the nose landing gear hit the runway first and the airplane bounced and became airborne again before he lost sight of it.

Examination of the airplane revealed that the side brace stud of the right main gear side brace upper link assembly was disconnected from the main gear side brace support fitting assembly. The roll pin inserted through the threading on the stud that connected to the support fitting was sheared and the threads of the stud were stripped. The push/pull (conduit) cable assembly arm that connected to the main gear side brace upper link assembly and actuated the landing gear was bent upward. No mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal operation of the landing gear were found.

The pilot’s improper landing flare, which resulted in failure of the right main landing gear and a subsequent loss of control.