Cessna 195A N9895A accident near Pocahontas, Iowa

Probable cause

Overload failure of the left main landing gear during landing, which resulted in a loss of directional control.

NTSB analysis

The airline transport pilot reported that, upon landing, he immediately felt a shift to the left. The left main landing gear fractured and collapsed, and the airplane went off the runway. Postaccident metallurgical examination of the landing gear revealed that the fracture occurred from a thumbnail-shaped fatigue crack in the gear spring strut with multiple origins near the inboard attachment location at the forward edge of its upper surface. Final overstress fracture propagation direction was consistent with a downward-and-aft bending failure mode; thus, the fracture was more likely due to overload rather than the fatigue crack. This was consistent with drag loading of the left main landing gear wheel in combination with side-loading of the outboard side of the left main landing gear wheel, such as that encountered during a crosswind landing, ground loop, and/or hard left turn event. The loads experienced by the landing gear during the accident landing could not be determined, and a structural analysis was not performed to determine if the loads exceeded design load limitations.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for CEN19LA322 for the full record.