| Crash location | 28.470834°N, 82.455556°W |
| Nearest city | Brooksville, FL
28.555272°N, 82.387871°W 7.1 miles away |
| Tail number | N6981L |
|---|---|
| Accident date | 12 Apr 2006 |
| Aircraft type | Cessna 310K |
| Additional details: | None |
On April 12, 2006, about 1745 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 310K, N6981L, registered to and operated by a private individual, as a Title 14 CFR Part 91 flight, veered off the runway during landing at Brooksville, Florida. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed. The private-rated pilot and three passengers were not injured, and the airplane incurred substantial damage. The flight originated in Knoxville, Tennessee, the same day, about 1445.
The pilot stated that during the landing rollout, the airplane pulled to the right, and he made a correction, but it continued to pull to the right. He said as the rollout progressed it continued to pull to the right, with him using full rudder deflection. The airplane then departed the right side of the runway, into the grass, and impacted some orange trees near a house.
An FAA inspector responded and conducted a postcrash examination of the airplane. According to the inspector, when he viewed the airplane it was sitting on its left main landing gear and nose gear, and the right main landing gear had separated from the airplane. He further stated that upon examining the right main landing gear the he noted a discrepancy associated with the forward trunnion. He said that the forward and aft trunnions both have two u-bolts that hold the landing hear to the pivot points on the airplane, and the aft trunnion had both u-bolts and had the pivot piece firmly locked under the u-bolts. He said on the forward trunnion the aft u-bolt was in place but the forward u-bolt was missing, and the pivot piece was not under the aft u-bolt.
The pilot provided an excerpt from the airplane maintenance records which showed that the accident airplane's right main landing gear had been recently repaired. According to the pilot, at the time of the accident the airplane had accumulate about 9 hours since landing gear maintenance had been performed.
The mechanic's improper maintenance that resulted in the right main landing gear's separation from the airplane and an inadvertent loss of control during landing.