What happened
The flight instructor and a commercially rated student pilot were operating the aircraft for what appears to be a training or practice approach. Prior to touchdown, the pilot lowered the landing gear and verified that it was fully extended by checking its position three separate times. The crew believed the gear was securely locked in the down position.
Upon touchdown, the aircraft began its landing roll on the runway surface. During this phase of the rollout, the left main landing gear suddenly collapsed. The failure occurred while the aircraft was still under control but resulted in significant structural stress as the gear failed to support the weight and momentum of the plane.
The investigation
Following the accident, investigators examined the aircraft to determine why the gear failed despite being verified as down multiple times. The aircraft was placed on jacks to simulate ground conditions without the load of the runway.
Technicians cycled the landing gear mechanism both electrically and mechanically. The examination revealed that the gear system operated normally when tested in this manner, moving up and down without obstruction or mechanical binding. This indicated that the failure likely occurred due to an issue not apparent during a static ground check, such as a structural fatigue failure or a transient locking mechanism fault under dynamic load.
Findings
The primary finding was the collapse of the left main landing gear during the landing roll. Although the pilot had confirmed the gear position three times prior to touchdown, the gear failed to sustain the aircraft's weight upon impact and subsequent rollout. The post-accident inspection showed no obvious mechanical blockage or electrical failure in the cycling mechanism when tested on jacks.
The aircraft sustained substantial damage as a result of the gear collapse. There were no reports of injuries to the occupants, who evacuated safely after the incident.