NTSB Identification: ERA12LA445
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Monday, July 09, 2012 in Allentown, PA
Aircraft: CESSNA 172S, registration: N680MA
Injuries: 2 Uninjured.

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators may not have traveled in support of this investigation and used data provided by various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
On July 9, 2012, about 1700 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 172S, N680MA, was substantially damaged when it veered off the runway while landing at Allentown Queen City Municipal Airport (XLL), Allentown, Pennsylvania. The certificated flight instructor and student pilot were not injured. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the airframe and the horizontal stabilizer. The airplane was operated by Gateway Aviation under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a local instructional flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan had been filed.

According to the pilots, they had been performing touch-and-go takeoffs and landings. After landing, around the time of power application, the airplane veered off the left side of the runway. According to maintenance personnel the airplane had been examined several times in the preceding two weeks for an unusual vibration emanating from the left main landing gear.

According to a Federal Aviation Administration inspector, the airplane exited the runway into the grass, crossed a taxiway and intersecting runway, impacted an airport sign, and came to rest near a berm. There were three distinct tire marks noted in the grass from the point where the airplane initially exited the edge of the runway to a point past where the sign had been impacted. Initial examination revealed that the left main landing gear axle was impact separated and the associated tire was located about two weeks after the accident, in a ditch approximately 300 feet from where the airplane had come to rest.

The left main landing gear assembly was retained by NTSB for further examination.

Index for Jul2012 | Index of months