30 Apr 2018: BEECH 1900C — Alpine Air Express

30 Apr 2018: BEECH 1900C (N172GA) — Alpine Air Express

No fatalities • Sioux Falls, SD, United States

Probable cause

Failure of the right main landing gear drag brace bolt for reasons that could not be determined based on the available information.

— NTSB Determination

Accident narrative

On April 29, 2018, about 2230 central daylight time, a Beech 1900C, N172GA, was substantially damaged when the right main landing gear collapsed as the airplane started to taxi for takeoff at Joe Foss Field Airport (FSD), Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The airline transport pilot was not injured. The airplane was registered to and operated by Alpine Aviation, doing business as Alpine Air Express, under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 135 as a non-scheduled domestic cargo flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the airport at the time of the accident, and an instrument flight rules flight plan had been filed. The flight was originating from FSD, and was destined for Rapid City Regional Airport (RAP), Rapid City, South Dakota.

According to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspectors, the airplane had just moved forward to taxi for takeoff when the right main landing gear collapsed. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed the right main landing gear drag brace bolt failed at the wing forward attach point. The drag brace bolt was not retained for further examination. The strut pivoted aft when the airplane moved forward, and the landing gear collapsed. The aft center wing lower spar cap was dented and deformed up to 0.090". Further examination found pitting corrosion on the spar cap.

Contributing factors

  • cause Main landing gear attach sec — Failure
  • Fatigue/wear/corrosion

Conditions

Weather
VMC, wind 160/15kt, vis 10sm

Related events

Same aircraft

  • 30 Sep 2016 — BEECH 1900C C (Southern Air Charter)
  • 22 Nov 2013 — BEECH 1900C (ERA Alaska)
  • 23 Oct 2013 — BEECH 1900C C (ERA Alaska)
  • 8 Mar 2013 — BEECH 1900C (Alaska Central Express)
  • 24 May 2012 — BEECH 1900C (Alaska Central Express Inc.)

Same operator

  • 3 Jun 2021 — BEECH 1900 (Alpine Air Express)
  • 2 Jun 2021 — Beechcraft 1900C (Alpine Air Express)
  • 23 May 2008 — BEECH 1900C (Alpine Air Express)
  • 17 Oct 2004 — Beechcraft 99A (Alpine Air Express)

Loading the flight search…

What you can do on Flight Finder

  • Search flights between any two airports with live fares.
  • By aircraft — pick a plane model (e.g. Boeing 787, Airbus A350) and see every route it flies from your origin.
  • Route map — click any airport worldwide to explore its destinations, or draw a radius to find nearby airports.
  • Global aviation safety — aviation accident database, 5,200+ records since 1980, with map and rankings by aircraft and operator.
  • NTSB safety feed — recent U.S. aviation accidents and incidents from the official NTSB CAROL database, updated daily.

Frequently asked questions

How do I search flights by aircraft type on FlightFinder?

Pick an aircraft model — Boeing 737, Airbus A320, A380, Boeing 787 Dreamliner and more — enter your origin airport, and FlightFinder shows every route that plane flies from there with live fares.

Which aircraft types can I filter by?

We support Boeing 737/747/757/767/777/787, the full Airbus A220/A319/A320/A321/A330/A340/A350/A380 family, Embraer E170/E175/E190/E195, Bombardier CRJ and Dash 8, and the ATR 42/72 turboprops.

Is FlightFinder free to use?

Search and schedules are free. Pro ($4.99/month, $39/year, or $99 one-time lifetime) unlocks the enriched flight card — on-time stats, CO₂ per passenger, amenities, live gate & weather — plus My Trips with push alerts.

Where does the route data come from?

Live schedules come from Amadeus, AeroDataBox and Travelpayouts. Observed routes (which aircraft actually flew a given city pair) are crowdsourced from adsb.lol ADS-B data under the Open Database License.