What happened
During the landing roll, the pilot observed that braking effectiveness was significantly reduced because of wet grass covering the runway surface. As the aircraft continued down the strip, the nose wheel encountered a soft area on the ground. The gear sank into this depression and subsequently sheared off. Following the structural failure of the nose gear, the aircraft nosed over onto its fuselage.
The investigation
A review of the site conditions revealed that the pilot, who was also the owner of the aircraft, had recently performed maintenance on the airfield. Specifically, the pilot had added dirt to several low spots along the strip to level the surface. However, this material had not been compacted prior to the landing attempt.
Findings
The primary factor contributing to the accident was the condition of the runway surface. The presence of wet grass reduced braking action, while the uncompacted dirt in the low spots created a soft spot that caused the nose gear to collapse under load.
wet grass, uncompacted dirt