Originally Posted by
2StgTurbine
The plane was made in 2007, so it really isn't that old for a trainer. I hope this aircraft had a unique history to explain the fatigue.
I know. I think the unusual history was the location and use of the aircraft. If a failure was going to occur, that's exactly the kind of operational history where it would happen first. Since the other wing exhibited fatigue as well, it wasn't a defect in just the one spar. May affect other aircraft in that general production run.
I'm *assuming* not a design flaw, since piston ASEL wing spars are pretty well-defined technology. Perhaps a material defect from the mfg... that might affect other hulls. Worst case they tried to use high-tech design tools to remove weight during a design update, and went too far.
Since both wings were affected, and the plane was so new, I suspect we're going to hear more on this one. If my kid went to school there, he'd be grounded until they checked the other planes, or determined that that the accident plane was over-stressed.
It's *possible* somebody over-stressed the plane at some point in the past and didn't report it, but frankly it would be hard to crack wing spars without bending anything first... I would think an event like that that would have left visible bent sheet metal and popped rivets. I've seen over-stressed planes that made it home and they were obviously jacked up.