a report about the SNJ crash in Kissemmee, FL

N453WA missed out on the hurricanes… she was off-site, in Illinois if memory serves correctly. Only reason I know this is that I checked to see if “my” T-6 (the one I flew back in Jan 04, sadly the same one involved in this fatal crash) was crushed by the falling hangar, and it was not in Kissimmee at the time.

Can’t imagine what might’ve gone wrong to cause such a catastrophic failure…

Lynn

I seem to remember a few years ago there was an Airworthiness Directive issued regarding these outer wing attachment bolts. A U.S. parts supplier found that a large batch of these bolts were in ciculation made of an incorrect specification material which would fail under certain loading conditions, with fatal consequences. All aircraft should have been checked long ago though- a simple process of using a magnet on them to see if they were magnetic (correct) or not (very bad!). It became apparent that these bolts were indeed in circulation and had been fitted to some restorations on this side of the pond. They have, of course, been replaced with the correct item now.

A major problem can be incorrectly torqued wing attach bolts. Constant aeros can cause problems so maintenance must be on top. Any loose bolts should be replaced with new ones.

I really have no clue.. what I can tell you though is that the T-6/SNJ/Harvard has one of the strongest wings I’ve ever seen. The wing is divided in three sections: the two external wings and the center wingroot, upon which the fuselage structure is bolted. Each wing is attached to center wingroot by means of a 116 bolts running along the airfoil plus 12 to connect the wing spar, so as u can easily guess the wing itself is a really solid structure. U need a REALLY excessive wing load to break it, or (as I’ve read in some air force reports of the 60s) an improper loading of the dynamometric (right?) tool, that if used on a serie of nearby bolts, under heavy G loads might cause the breaking of them and the stressing of all the other bolts, with obvious consequences. The wing junctions are under the rounded fairings running all over the airfoil.

Alex

So , as you wrote yesterday, was that particular aircraft earlier overstressed or hurricane damaged?