Nose Gear Collapse After Landing Due to Drag-Link Bracket Overstress (N958MC)

Incident Description

The pilot reported that the nose gear collapsed following a landing described as normal. The aircraft had touched down on the runway and was rolling out when the nose gear failed.

Runway Evidence

An FAA inspector who examined the runway after the incident reported finding tire marks that indicated the nose tire had contacted the runway several times after the main tires had touched down. This suggested that the nose gear may have been subjected to repeated loads during the landing roll.

Examination Findings

Examination of the nose gear revealed that the aft drag-link bracket assembly had failed. A metallurgical examination of the fracture surfaces showed features typical of an overstress break. There was no evidence of preexisting cracking on the fracture surfaces, indicating that the failure occurred due to a single overload event rather than progressive fatigue.