N3149D

On June 3, 1995, at 2010 central daylight time, a Cessna 180, was destroyed when it departed the runway during an attempted takeoff in Clear Lake, Minnesota. The private pilot sustained serious injury and one passenger reported minor injury. The local, personal flight was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91 in visual meteorological conditions. No flight plan was filed.

In his written statement, the pilot reported that the airplane "pulled hard to the right upon application of power" and impacted evergreen trees on the right side of the runway. A postimpact fire ensued.

During a telephone interview, the passenger reported that the pilot was "fighting the aircraft" and at about 40 miles per hour the pilot exclaimed "something's wrong." The airplane slid sideways to the right, then the right wing came up abruptly. The right wing came down "hard" and impacted with a tree. He believed the landing gear failed because the right wing came down further than the strut would normally allow. He said the pilot was "stunned" and did not reduce the throttle from takeoff power. The passenger reported that the pilot exclaimed "should've cut it off" and the airplane continued into the trees.

A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Inspector examined the wreckage and reported that the configuration of the airstrip required the pilot to repetitively taxi about 1/2 mile through rough terrain to and from the runway. The right main landing gear was sheared from the airplane and the upper bolt was fractured. He reported no other evidence of preimpact structural failure or flight control malfunction.

The landing gear bolt was examined by a metallurgist at the NTSB Laboratory, Washington, D. C. In his factual report, he reported that "no evidence of crack arrest positions were noted" and "all fracture features and deformation on the bolt piece were consistent with a direct shear ductile overstress separation."