What happened
On January 7, 2019, a Cessna 182, registration LV-FZY, was conducting a general aviation training flight from General Rodríguez to Astor Piazzolla International Airport in Mar del Plata. After completing a successful landing on runway 13 at approximately 16:14 UTC, the pilot requested authorization to perform a 180-degree turn on the runway to shorten the taxi distance.
While executing this turn, the pilot felt increasing vibrations originating from the nose gear. These vibrations intensified until the nose landing gear collapsed, causing the propeller to strike the runway surface. The aircraft came to a stop approximately 930 meters from the runway threshold. The pilot was uninjured, but the aircraft sustained significant damage to the engine, propeller, and nose gear.
The investigation
Investigators examined the nose gear assembly and discovered that the fork of the nose landing gear had fractured across both arms. A microscopic analysis of the fracture surfaces revealed the presence of a crack initiation point in both arms of the fork.
Review of the aircraft's maintenance records showed no evidence of recent repairs to the affected component, nor were there any records of previous hard landings. The investigation focused on determining whether the failure was caused by external impacts, corrosion, or internal material fatigue.
Findings
- The primary cause of the gear collapse was a fatigue crack that had progressed within the nose gear fork.
- The crack was a hidden defect, progressing through normal service cycles and standard operational vibrations, making it undetectable through visual inspection alone.
- The remaining structural section of the fork eventually became unable to support normal operational loads, leading to an abrupt plastic fracture.
- There was no evidence of corrosion, external physical interference, or recent heavy landings contributing to the failure.