While Taxiing To Parking The Right Landing Gear Leg Collapsed, Resulting In Substantial Damage

Location: Lihue, Hawaii Accident Number: ANC25LA021
Date & Time: February 28, 2025, 10:58 Local Registration: N699AV
Aircraft: Gippsland GA-8 Aircraft Damage: Substantial
Defining Event: Sys/Comp malf/fail (non-power) Injuries: 1 Minor, 5 None
Flight Conducted Under: Part 91: General aviation - Aerial observation

Analysis: The pilot made a normal approach with full flaps and landed on the runway. While taxiing to parking the right landing gear leg collapsed, resulting in substantial damage to the fuselage and the right wing.

Postaccident examination showed that the right main landing gear leg failed from a fatigue crack that had developed in the gear leg and was not identified during annual maintenance inspections. There were visible oxides, corrosion pits, bubbled paint adjacent to the fracture surface, consistent with the presence of underlying corrosion damage. The fatigue crack should have been discovered during the recent inspection.

Probable Cause and Findings: The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident to be -- The failure of the right landing gear leg due to a fatigue crack, which resulted in its separation from the airplane during taxi. Contributing to the accident, was the mechanic’s inadequate inspection of the landing gear leg during the last maintenance inspection. 

FMI: www.ntsb.gov