Incident Details
On September 5, 2009, at 1315 eastern daylight time, an Aeronca 11AC, registered as N3383E, nosed over while landing in a grass field in Marshall, Michigan. The event followed a failure of the right main landing gear that occurred during the previous takeoff. The pilot was not injured, and the airplane received substantial damage to the right wing and rudder. The personal flight was conducted under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the local flight. The flight originated from Brooks Airport (RMY) in Marshall, Michigan, at 1300.
Pilot Actions
The pilot reported hearing a "thump" after liftoff. Another individual on the ground radioed the pilot, stating that the right landing gear appeared "crooked." The pilot, unable to transmit because of a low aircraft battery, chose to make an off-airport landing in a field rather than attempt a landing at the busy airport he had just departed. During the landing, the right main landing gear collapsed, and the airplane nosed over.
Aircraft Inspection
Inspection of the airplane revealed that the right main landing gear oleo strut attachment fitting had failed, causing the landing gear to collapse. The last annual inspection on the airplane was dated August 7, 2000. The pilot reported that an annual inspection may have detected the failure.