Probable cause
The fatigue failure of the right landing gear leg that resulted in its separation from the airplane during takeoff.
NTSB analysis
The pilot stated that while taking off on a frozen lake with hard-packed snow, the right main landing gear separated from the airplane. He continued the takeoff and landed the airplane without further incident on a snow-covered lake near his home. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the vertical stabilizer due to impact from the right main landing gear.
A metallurgical examination of the right main landing gear leg assembly revealed that bilateral fatigue cracks originated from the inner wall of a cross-drilled hole near the right gear leg socket. Eventually, overload and bending stresses in the direction of the fatigue cracks resulted in the right gear leg separating. It was unclear why the hole was drilled. There is an identical hole in the same spot on the left landing gear leg.
Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for CEN23LA110 for the full record.
Event
- Date
- Feb 18, 2023
- Type
- Accident
- Place
- Windom, Minnesota
- Highest injury
- None
- Weather
- Visual (VMC)
- Light
- Day
Amateur-built TORNADO II
- N-number
- N9168P
- Category
- Airplane
- Year built
- 2007
- Damage
- Substantial
- Operating rule
- Part 91 (general aviation)
- Purpose of flight
- Personal
From the NTSB aviation accident database: N-registered aircraft, events since 2008, data through Oct 28, 2026. The file is published monthly, so the latest weeks are incomplete and recent records can change. The official source is the NTSB aviation investigation search. CheckAero is independent and not affiliated with the NTSB.