Incident Overview
A private pilot, accompanied by five passengers, was conducting a return flight to his home base in a rented airplane. The flight was cruising at 8,500 feet MSL when the pilot observed that the left inboard front cowl fastener was unlatched.
Pilot Actions
The pilot, who was receiving flight advisories from TRACON, requested vectors to the nearest airport for a precautionary landing. Controllers directed him to a 4,500-foot-long gravel runway. The pilot indicated he intended to perform a short field landing on Runway 02.
Landing and Damage
During the landing, the airplane touched down hard, resulting in the shearing off of both main landing gears and collapsing the nose gear. The wind at the time was reported as from 020 degrees at 15 knots, with gusts to 20 knots.
Pilot Experience
The pilot reported having 8 hours of multiengine time as pilot-in-command, with a total multiengine time of 19 hours, all accrued within the preceding 90 days.