Crash Investigation of Chalk's Ocean Airways Grumman G-73T "Turbine Mallard" Seaplane; N2969
"(Chalk's) (is) now one of the leading tourist
attractions in the area and if you ever
have to go to the Bahamas it is
well worth your while to travel on Chalk's
from Fort Lauderdale. It is so wonderful and all the staff
(is) so friendly. There are few
better experiences in this life.
Try it!"
http://www.kellstransportmuseum.com/Chalks.html
Overall view of the inboard end of the right wing as it
was recovered from the water. An
unlabeled arrow indicates the lower spar cap of the rear spar where fatigue
features were observed.
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December 22, 2005, Miami, Florida - The National
Transportation Safety Board has released photos depicting fatigue cracks found
on the separated wing of the Chalk's Ocean Airways plane that crashed into the
water near Miami Beach on Monday.
On Tuesday afternoon, the right wing of the aircraft was
recovered. The wing had separated
at the inboard section, at the wing/fuselage juncture. Safety Board engineers and
metallurgists agree that the signatures are consistent with fatigue
fractures. Portions of the wing
are at the NTSB metallurgy laboratory in Washington, DC.
Closer view of the fracture surface at the inboard end of
the lower spar cap of the right wing rear spar. Unlabeled arrows indicate the location of two offset drilled
holes.
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Even-closer view of the fatigue region in the horizontal
leg of the lower spar cap of the rear spar. Unlabeled brackets indicate fatigue origin areas at the
surfaces of the fastener hole, and dashed lines indicate the extent of the
fatigue region visible on the fracture surface.
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