Accident Overview
On February 28, 2025, about 1058 Hawaii-Aleutian standard time, a Gippsland GA-8 airplane, registration N699AV, was substantially damaged during taxi after landing at Lihue Airport in Hawaii. The aircraft was operating as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 air tour flight. The pilot and four passengers were not injured; one passenger sustained minor injuries.
Flight and Landing
The pilot reported making a normal approach with full flaps and landing on runway 21 at Lihue Airport. While taxiing to parking, the pilot made a slow right turn off the runway. As the pilot straightened the airplane out of the turn onto the taxiway, the right landing gear leg collapsed.
Damage and Fracture
The right main landing gear fractured at the upper end of the bend near the fuselage attachment point, causing the right main gear to separate from the airplane. The resulting substantial damage occurred to the fuselage. Postaccident examination revealed discoloration and offset grain structure on the fractured gear leg, with a 45° shear lip present on the right separated gear leg. The left gear leg was found to have a crack in the same location as the failed gear leg.
Maintenance History
The airplane’s service manual required the landing gear to be inspected visually every 100 hours or during the annual maintenance inspection. At the time of the accident, the main landing gear had accumulated a total of 13,299.2 flight hours.
Material Laboratory Examination
Further examination by the NTSB Materials Laboratory determined that the right main landing gear leg was fractured near the middle of the bend at the upper end of the leg. The outboard side of the fracture was damaged from contact with terrain, while the inboard side was relatively undamaged. On the lower side of the fracture, a flat area with dark features and a curving boundary was observed, with features consistent with fatigue. Radial marks in the fatigue region emanated from a corrosion pit in the lower surface.
Oxides and corrosion pits were observed on the lower surface adjacent to the fracture surface, and paint covering adjacent areas was bubbled, consistent with the presence of underlying corrosion damage. The remainder of the fracture was primarily in the transverse plane and had a mostly matte gray appearance with small shear lips at the edges, features consistent with overstress fracture in the steel tubular section. The plane of fracture changed at the upper side of the fracture, consistent with the final segment of fracture from bending loads.