Cessna 182 N3292Y accident near Broomfield, Colorado

Probable cause

The overstress fracture of the upper link of the nose landing gear torque link assembly, which resulted in the pilot’s inability to maintain directional control during landing.

NTSB analysis

The pilot had conducted a personal flight to a grass airstrip, where he completed two uneventful full-stop landings before returning to the departure airport for a final landing. The pilot reported that on the final landing the airplane initially touched down on the main landing gear, but when the nose gear contacted the runway, the airplane immediately swerved right and nosed over in the grass beside the runway, resulting in substantial damage to the vertical stabilizer, rudder, and right wing strut. A witness reported seeing the airplane on final approach with its nose wheel rotated about 75° from its normal alignment.

The upper link arm of the nose landing gear torque link assembly had fractured near its upper end, which allowed the nose wheel to rotate freely on the landing gear strut. A laboratory examination revealed evidence of a downward bending overstress failure. Although the examination also identified an isolated area of preexisting fatigue on the right flange and a closed crack on the left flange, they did not contribute to the bending overstress failure of the upper torque link. Based on the available evidence, the upper link arm fractured earlier in the flight, and the pilot would have been unaware of the damage to the nose gear before the final landing.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for CEN18LA162 for the full record.