Cessna 152 Nose Wheel Rim Failure During Landing at Cascais (CS-DDO)

Incident Overview On 3 May 2008 at 12:00 UTC, a Cessna 152, registration CS-DDO, operated by GESTAIR Flying Academy, was conducting a local instruction flight at Aeródromo Municipal de Cascais (LPCS). The aircraft carried one student pilot. During a normal landing on runway 35, the nose wheel rim failed, causing significant vibration. The pilot shut down the engine and brought the aircraft to a stop on the runway. No injuries were reported. ## Aircraft and Maintenance The aircraft was a Cessna A152, serial number A152-0804, manufactured in 1983, powered by a Lycoming O-235-L2C engine. The airframe had 8,097.45 flight hours. A 100-hour inspection had been completed on 30 April 2008, which included a visual inspection of the landing gear and lubrication of the wheel axle. The operator did not have an in-house maintenance department and contracted maintenance to an external company without implementing its own maintenance management or quality control system. ## Investigation Findings Examination of the recovered nose wheel rim fragments revealed recent fractures and significant drag wear on one half, while the other half showed older fractures and was heavily fragmented. The overall cleanliness and treatment of the parts were inadequate. The investigation concluded that pre-existing fractures, likely concealed by paint, had weakened the rim and contributed to its complete failure during a normal landing. The inspection protocol did not include borescopic or resonance testing, which could have detected the internal fractures earlier. ## Safety Recommendations The investigation recommended that GESTAIR Flight Academy establish a Maintenance Management Department to program and monitor all maintenance activities performed by contracted companies, in order to better ensure the airworthiness of its aircraft.