A Review of Recent NTSB Investigations of Landing Gear Accidents

Over the last decade, the National Transportation Safety Board has investigated multiple landing gear failures on commercial airplanes. These include aging and repurposed aircraft, as well as newer airplanes. When a landing gear component fractures, it usually does so during landing, causing collapse of the airplane often leading to catastrophic damage. While the components in this presentation have fractured after prolonged fatigue crack propagation, the initiation events can vary from maintenance issues to corrosive attack. This presentation will discuss several investigations of these accidents and will address recommendations made to improve safety of flight. These recommendations often focus on the inspections used to detect cracks, which have proven to be critical in preventing disastrous in-flight landing gear collapses.