N736MV

On June 13, 2007, at approximately 0903 central daylight time, an amphibious float equipped Cessna R172K, N736MV, sustained substantial damage during the takeoff roll when the front wheels separated from both floats and the airplane nosed over. The Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight was departing Lakewood Airpark (4WN3), Lakewood, Wisconsin, at the time of the accident. The airline transport pilot and one passenger reported no injuries. One passenger reported minor injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. No flight plan was filed.

The pilot reported that the right nose wheel separated from the float approximately 210 feet from where the airplane started the takeoff roll on runway 9 (2,500 feet by 150 feet, turf). About 35 feet later, the left nose wheel separated from the float. He reported that after the left nose wheel separated, the left nose wheel strut dug into the turf causing the aircraft to nose over. An examination by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector revealed that the nose wheel struts had separated from the castoring assemblies.

The left and right nose wheel struts and castoring assemblies were sent to the National Transportation Safety Board's (NTSB) Materials Laboratory for a metallurgical examination. The visual examination of the parts showed that the castering nose wheels from both floats had fractured at the bearing boss welds to the strut arms. Both strut arms were bent upward. The right arm was bent about 30 degrees and the left was bent about 5 degrees. The strut fractures were located through the fusion zones of the strut to bearing boss welds with some tearing of the boss material at the upper edges of the welds. Microscopic inspection of the fractures on both struts revealed matte gray textured fracture surfaces typical of overstress fractures. Deformation and rearward displacement of the boss material adjacent to the upper edge tears and fracture regions, along with the smearing contact of the lower fracture areas, were consistent with bending overstress forces on the weld joint.

On August 8, 2007, Baumann Floats LLC issued Service Bulletin No. 001. The reason for the issuance of the service bulletin was "to improve the service and reliability of the nose gear assembly." The service bulletin modified the G-129 nose gear tube assembly. Compliance with the service bulletin was considered mandatory by the manufacturer upon receipt of the service bulletin, and specifically prior to operating off grass or soft field areas. The service bulletin stated, "Baumann Floats will perform the landing gear modification described in this service bulletin for no charge within 60 days of the aircraft owner's receipt of this service bulletin but no later than October 31, 2007."