Incident Overview
Following departure on a cross-country flight, the pilot encountered a malfunction: the landing gear would not retract or extend beyond the trail position. In response, the pilot elected to proceed to an airport that had long, hard-surface runways and emergency services available. Subsequently, the airplane sustained damage during a landing with the gear partially extended.
Post-Landing Examination
Examination following the landing revealed evidence that improper routing of the nose landing gear hydraulic line had allowed the line to chafe on the nose wheel. This chafing resulted in a leak in the hydraulic line. As a consequence, hydraulic fluid was depleted by being pumped overboard.
Findings
The investigation determined that the hydraulic fluid loss caused the landing gear system to fail to operate normally, leading to the partial extension condition at touchdown. The damage to the aircraft occurred during the landing roll.