Cirrus Design CORP SR20 accident near Fort Worth, Texas, November 6, 2020
On November 6, 2020 at about 4:33 am local time, a 2005 Cirrus Design CORP SR20, registered N720TX, was substantially damaged in an accident during landing (landing roll) near Fort Worth, Texas (Fort Worth Alliance airport). It was an instructional flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). No one was hurt; 2 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
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The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
A failure of the nose wheel landing strut for reasons that could not be determined based on available information.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- November 6, 2020 · about 4:33 am local time
- Place
- Fort Worth, Texas · Fort Worth Alliance · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 2 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Cirrus Design CORP SR20, built 2005
- Registration
- N720TX · registry record · serial 1564
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
Just after touchdown during landing, the airplane’s nose landing gear collapsed, which resulted in substantial damage to the engine firewall. Examination revealed that the gear strut separated near the top of the assembly. Video of the landing was not consistent with a hard landing. The airplane had experienced a hard landing about 2 months before the accident landing, after which it was inspected in accordance with the manufacturer’s hard landing checklist. The accident landing was the fourth landing since being returned to service. The nose landing gear strut assembly was not retained and provided for metallurgical examination. It could not be determined if the strut failed due to damage from the previous hard landing or another hard landing before the accident flight.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
What happened, in order
- Landing gear collapse during landing (landing roll) defining event
The NTSB's findings
- Aircraft › Aircraft systems › Landing gear system › Nose/tail landing gear › Failure
Flight instructor
- Certificate: flight instructor, commercial pilot
- Ratings: single-engine land; single-engine sea; instrument: airplane
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (without waivers/limitations)
- Seat: rgt
- Injury: no injuries
Dual student
- Certificate: student
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (without waivers/limitations)
- Seat: left
- Injury: no injuries
The aircraft
- Maximum gross weight: 3,050 lb
- Seats: 4
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Cont Motor IO-360 SER (piston); 0 hours total
- Operator: Plane Smart! Aviation
The flight
- Departed from: ADS Addison TX at 3:30 am
- Runway 16R, 11,000 ft by 150 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: night
- Wind: from 110° at 5 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: a few clouds at 5,000 ft
- Temperature: 64°F (18°C), dew point 57°F (14°C)
- Altimeter: 30.14 inHg
- Observation at 10:53 pm from AFW
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flig | 2 |
About this page
Everything above comes from the NTSB's public accident database: the narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words, and the coded tables behind its report (pilot, aircraft, flight, weather, injuries, sequence of events) are written out in plain English. Pilots' ages, home towns and medical details are left out on purpose. The docket at the NTSB holds the report as a PDF and the investigation's photographs and documents. This site never names pilots, passengers or anyone else involved. A preliminary report describes what is known soon after the event and can change; the final report, with the probable cause, usually follows one to two years later and this page is refreshed when it does. Case number CEN21LA108.