N154CH

On April 26, 1998, about 1340 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-23-250, N154CH, registered to Caesair, Inc., experienced failure of the right main landing gear on landing at the Flying Palomino Ranch Airstrip, near Fruitland Park, Florida. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed for the 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight. The airplane was substantially damaged and the private-rated pilot and two passengers were not injured. The flight originated about 1315, from the Orlando International Airport, Orlando, Florida.

The pilot stated that after a normal touchdown, the right wing dropped and the airplane veered to the right. He applied full left rudder input, but the airplane veered to the right and collided with metal objects on the ground, adjacent to the runway, then collided with a fence and fence poles.

Examination of the right main landing gear revealed that the right main landing gear fork and rod assembly was failed. Additionally, an AN bolt, which when installed is aligned with the longitudinal axis of the airplane and is located near the fracture surface of the fork, was also failed. The failed fork and rod assembly and AN bolt, along with a plug, were sent to the NTSB Metallurgy Laboratory in Washington, DC, for examination.

Metallurgical examination of the failed fork and rod assembly revealed no evidence of preexisting cracks. The fracture features were typical of an overstress. Examination of the failed AN bolt revealed it was bent and the fracture surface was flat on a transverse plane 90 degrees to the longitudinal direction of the bolt. No evidence of preexisting cracks were noted.

The airplane, minus the retained failed right main landing gear fork and rod assembly, failed AN bolt, and plug, was released to the owner on May 8, 1998. The retained components were released to Mr. Steve Pulak, of Sample International, Inc., on June 24, 1998.