Airlinair AT72 at Toulouse on Mar 5th 2013, nose gear torque link disconnected
Last Update: September 28, 2015 / 16:35:54 GMT/Zulu time
Incident Facts
Date of incident
Mar 5, 2013
Classification
Accident
Airline
Airlinair
Flight number
A5-703
Departure
Marseille, France
Destination
Toulouse, France
Aircraft Registration
F-GVZL
Aircraft Type
ATR ATR-72-200
ICAO Type Designator
AT72
The airline had reported at the time, that two tyres had blown during the roll out at low speed (about 70 knots) with strong cross winds present. The cause of why the tyres were punctured was unknown.
The French BEA reported on Mar 12th 2013, that the nose gear torque link was found "disconnected". The occurrence was rated an accident, the BEA have opened an investigation.
The incident aircraft was still on the ground 7 days later.
The French BEA released their final report in French indicating the occurrence was now rated an incident and concluding the probably cause of the incident was:
The separation of the upper torque link was caused the failure of the retaining screw during the landing roll.
This failure could be caused by following factors:
- incorrect positioning of one of components during assembly
- weakening of the screw/nut as well as corrosion of threads of the screw and probably the nut
The BEA reported that the torque link separated because the connecting/bonding axle went missing. The axle had been installed during manufacture in 1998 and had accumulated 26,673 flying hours in 34,923 flight cycles. The nose gear had been examined in 2004 and underwent repairs following a vibration event in 2009. In April 2012 the shock absorber was replaced in a workshop in Germany. These maintenance actions required the dismantling of the torque links, the axle was examined and re-assembled following finding that there was no corrosion or other indication suggesting to replace the axle. Between December 2012 and March 2013 there were a few crew reports of heavier than normal nose wheel steering controls, the torque link was lubricated.
Visual examination of the recovered axle revealed its threads showed about 0.3mm deep corrosion, the painting and plating to prevent corrosion was entirely missing at the thread level while still present outside the threads. The wear and grooves present suggest a washer may have been improperly positioned.
The report mentioned two similiar occurrences where the loss of cadmium plating at the thread levels had resulted in torque link disconnects.
The report mentions that the manufacturer changed the work cards for the replacement of the shock absorber in March 2013 as result of the occurrence requiring now specific degreasers, specific tools to be used, additional checks for corrosion and requirement for part replacement in particular nuts, specific lubrication for the threads as well as systematic replacement of washers.
Incident Facts
Date of incident
Mar 5, 2013
Classification
Accident
Airline
Airlinair
Flight number
A5-703
Departure
Marseille, France
Destination
Toulouse, France
Aircraft Registration
F-GVZL
Aircraft Type
ATR ATR-72-200
ICAO Type Designator
AT72
This article is published under license from Avherald.com. © of text by Avherald.com.
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