Titan TORNADO II accident near Windom, Minnesota, February 18, 2023
On February 18, 2023 at about 6:15 pm local time, a 2007 Titan TORNADO II, an amateur-built aircraft,, registered N9168P, was substantially damaged in an accident during takeoff near Windom, Minnesota. It was a personal flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The fatigue failure of the right landing gear leg that resulted in its separation from the airplane during takeoff.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made November 2, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- February 18, 2023 · about 6:15 pm local time · cases in 2023
- Place
- Windom, Minnesota · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Titan TORNADO II, built 2007, amateur-built · all TORNADO IIs on the register
- Registration
- N9168P · registry record · serial D00912COHK0376
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The pilot stated that while taking off on a frozen lake with hard-packed snow, the right main landing gear separated from the airplane. He continued the takeoff and landed the airplane without further incident on a snow-covered lake near his home. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the vertical stabilizer due to impact from the right main landing gear. A metallurgical examination of the right main landing gear leg assembly revealed that bilateral fatigue cracks originated from the inner wall of a cross-drilled hole near the right gear leg socket. Eventually, overload and bending stresses in the direction of the fatigue cracks resulted in the right gear leg separating. It was unclear why the hole was drilled. There is an identical hole in the same spot on the left landing gear leg.
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
- Sys/Comp malf/fail (non-power) during takeoff defining event
The NTSB's findings
- Aircraft › Aircraft systems › Landing gear system › Main landing gear › Fatigue/wear/corrosion other cases naming the landing gear
Pilot
- Certificate: private
- Ratings: single-engine land
- Flight time: 1,248.2 hours in all; 1,069.6 in this make and model; 10.4 in the last 90 days; 4.1 in the last 30 days; 1,198 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Class 3 (with waivers/limitations)
- Seat: frt
- Injury: no injuries
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 1,212.8 hours
- Last inspection: condition inspection, October 1, 2022; 14.7 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 1,000 lb
- Seats: 2
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Rotax 912 ULS (piston); 1,212 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: NA Fredenberg Township MN at 6:15 pm
- Destination: KCOQ Cloquet MN
- Flight plan: none
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 210° at 9 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 30°F (-1°C), dew point 21°F (-6°C)
- Altimeter: 29.96 inHg
- Observation at 12:15 pm from KCOQ, 7 miles away
Weather report (METAR): KCOQ 181815Z AUTO 21009KT 10SM CLR M01/M06 A2996 RMK AO2 TSNO
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flight crew | 1 |
Photographs from the investigation 4 pictures from the NTSB's docket, as the NTSB released them
Photo 1 – Titan Tornado II-Post Accident (photo
Photo 2 – Fractured right landing gear leg (photo
Photo 3 – Fractured right landing gear leg (photo
Photo 4 - Damage to vertical stabilizer (photoThe NTSB's photographs with the NTSB's captions, at screen size. Open a picture to see it full size or to report one that should not be shown.
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
3 documents, released by the NTSB on April 18, 2024. View them here, or download them; the NTSB redacts some personal details before release, and this site shows the NTSB's own titles rather than its file names.
| # | Document | What it is | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pilot/operator Aircraft Accident Report, NTSB Form 6120.1 | PDF, 11 pages | View Download |
| 2 | Materials Laboratory Factual Report | PDF, 14 pages | View Download |
| 3 | Photos | PDF, 4 pages · our copy | View Download |
The same docket at the NTSB · documents without a copy here are fetched from the NTSB when you open them.
Connections how this case links to the rest of the register
- N9168P on the register today · the tail number may have moved to another aircraft since
- Titan TORNADO II 6 registered today · the model family and its accident history
- Titan 12 aircraft on the register
- Engine: Rotax 912 ULS 62 aircraft carry this series today · as the NTSB recorded it
- Cloquet/Carlton County · bound for
- Accidents and incidents in Minnesota 1,544 since 1982 · 209 in the last ten years
- Minnesota 6,946 aircraft registered
The whole map of how records connect · these connections as data: /graph/accident/CEN23LA110.json.
The bigger picture in Aviation Analytics: accidents over time since 1982, by model, by phase of flight and conditions, by place and on the map.
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text does not name anyone involved, its policy at this time. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.