Incident Overview
Company maintenance personnel had disassembled and reassembled the left main landing gear of the aircraft. The aircraft was being ferried to another base for permanent landing gear repairs. During the takeoff phase of the ferry flight, the left main landing gear and its associated shock strut separated from the aircraft. The pilot performed an emergency landing without the left main gear wheels.
Investigation
An examination of the separated landing gear revealed that the upper bearing halves and the piston damping ring had been installed in accordance with the maintenance manual. However, a review of the maintenance manual disclosed that the assembly procedures for the landing gear were misleading.
Corrective Measures
Following the review, the manufacturer issued a temporary revision to the maintenance manual to address the misleading landing gear assembly procedures.