What happened
During the final approach phase of flight, the crew of a commuter air carrier aircraft received an unsafe indication regarding the status of the nose landing gear. Recognizing the discrepancy, the flight crew immediately abandoned the landing attempt and initiated a go-around procedure. All available emergency extension procedures were executed in an effort to lower the nose gear, but these efforts proved unsuccessful.
With the nose gear unable to extend, the crew secured both engines while still on final approach. The aircraft subsequently touched down on the runway with the nose gear retracted, resulting in a nose-gear-up landing event. No further details regarding passenger or crew injury are provided in the source text.
The investigation
Post-accident examination of the aircraft revealed that all hydraulic pressure had been lost prior to the landing. Technical analysis identified the root cause of this pressure loss as a failure of the end cap on the right main landing gear actuator. The component failed due to fatigue, which compromised the hydraulic system's integrity and prevented proper operation of the landing gear mechanisms.
Findings
The primary contributing factor was the structural failure of the right main landing gear actuator end cap caused by fatigue. This mechanical failure led to a total loss of hydraulic pressure, which in turn prevented the nose landing gear from extending despite the crew's use of emergency procedures.