Vashon Aircraft RANGER R7 accident near Glendale, Arizona, September 27, 2022
On September 27, 2022 at about 9:58 pm local time, a 2019 Vashon Aircraft RANGER R7, registered N151VR, was substantially damaged in an accident during takeoff near Glendale, Arizona (Glendale Muni airport). 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).
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The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
Failure of the landing gear due to material deficiencies that reduced the strength of the landing gear.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- September 27, 2022 · about 9:58 pm local time
- Place
- Glendale, Arizona · Glendale Muni · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Vashon Aircraft RANGER R7, built 2019 · all RANGER R7s on the register
- Registration
- N151VR · registry record · serial 10141
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
According to the pilot, when the airplane reached 15-20 knots (kts) during the initial takeoff roll, the left main landing gear collapsed, and the airplane ground looped to the left. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left elevator and left wing. Examination of the left main landing gear (MLG) leg determined it fractured due to preexisting cracks that initiated at the inboard side of the leg at the forward and aft sides of the forward hole for attaching the leg to the fuselage at the outboard attachment bracket. Examination of the crack revealed it existed before the accident flight; however, spacing between crack arrest features suggest the number of load cycles from initiation to failure was relatively low. A review of available flight data did not reveal a specific hard landing event that could have resulted in the initiation of the crack. The airplane’s main landing gear is made from a woven E-glass with epoxy resin and prepreg laminate that is pressed and then oven cured. The raw material is not aviation specific. Destructive testing of the failed landing gear and material samples from other gear manufactured from the same lot of material found the material did not meet minimum specified strength requirements. The material batch in question was traceable to 16 airplanes (30 gear legs), including 1 other airplane that had a similar failure following a hard landing. The owners of the affected airplanes were notified and the landing gear for some of the affected airplanes were replaced. Following this accident, the airplane manufacturer initiated a redesign of the landing gear and began performing destructive batch sample tests of the composite material used for every batch of gear legs to ensure each new gear leg meets minimum required strength requirements. The accident is consistent with the landing gear being manufactured using material that did not meet the necessary strength requirements and subsequently failing after a crack developed in the landing gear. The event that initiated the crack was not identified based on available evidence.
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 takeoff
- Miscellaneous/other during prior to flight
- Sys/Comp malf/fail (non-power) during takeoff defining event
The NTSB's findings
- Aircraft › Aircraft systems › Landing gear system › Main gear strut/axle/truck › Damaged/degraded
- Aircraft › Aircraft systems › Landing gear system › Main landing gear › Damaged/degraded
- Aircraft › Aircraft systems › Landing gear system › Main gear strut/axle/truck › Failure
- Organizational issues › Development › Manufacture/production › Equipment manufacture › Manufacturer
Pilot
- Certificate: flight instructor, commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instructor: helicopter; instrument: airplane; instrument: helicopter; rotorcraft: helicopter
- Flight time: 36,323 hours in all; 150 in this make and model; 36,200 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Sport Pilot
- Seat: left
- Injury: no injuries
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 223.4 hours
- Last inspection: annual inspection, February 23, 2022; 4 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 1,320 lb
- Seats: 2
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Continental O-200-D3B (piston); 223 hours total
The flight
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 01, 7,150 ft by 100 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 95°F (35°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
- Altimeter: 29.93 inHg
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flig | 1 |
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 WPR22LA357.