During a flight on 21 June 2009, a Gippsland Aeronautics GA-8 Airvan aircraft, registered VH-BFS, sustained a fracture of the right main landing gear axle assembly, resulting in separation and loss of the wheel and brake calliper. To assist their investigation of the occurrence, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) requested the assistance of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) in the metallurgical examination of the fractured landing gear leg. While the examination provided some information on the nature and location of the failure, the amount of material abraded and lost from the fracture surface (as a result of landing on the fractured leg), precluded a full determination of the fracture mechanism.
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Released in accordance with section 25 of the Transport Safety Investigation Act 2003.