Accident Overview
During a takeoff from a road, the airplane impacted a ditch and nosed over.
Wreckage Examination
Post-accident examination revealed that the right outboard wheel half, right tire, and right tire inner tube had separated from the airframe. No other anomalies that could be associated with a pre-impact condition were found.
Three of the right wheel through bolts were recovered from the accident scene. Two of these bolts had stripped threads, and a third was fractured in the threaded portion.
The left wheel was examined and found intact. However, seven of the through bolts that hold the left wheel halves together were found to have been over-torqued. The torque readings on these bolts ranged from 125 to 175 inch-pounds. The specified torque, as printed on the wheel, is 90 inch-pounds. Two of the remaining bolts on the left wheel were stripped. Additionally, one of the through bolts was a coarse thread bolt, whereas the bolts specified for attaching the wheel halves are AN4 fine thread bolts.