Incident Overview
Following departure, the pilot observed that the gear unsafe warning light remained illuminated after the landing gear was retracted. The pilot checked and found that the circuit breaker for the gear hydraulic motor had popped. He reset the circuit breaker and cycled the landing gear down. Subsequently, only two green lights illuminated for the main landing gear; the nose gear light remained off. The pilot swapped bulbs and confirmed the bulb was functional.
Emergency Gear Extension Attempt
The pilot then pulled the emergency gear extension handle with the gear selector in the down position. After this procedure, he still had only two green lights for the main gear, indicating the nose gear had not extended. The pilot circled the airport while troubleshooting the nose gear issue. Air traffic control tower personnel advised that the nose gear appeared to be in a midway position.
Landing and Aftermath
The pilot executed an approach and landing on runway 24. During touchdown, the airplane landed hard on the main landing gear, and a wing struck the ground. Following the event, the airplane was placed on jacks and the landing gear was examined. When the nose gear was extended by hand, it was found that the steering ball was outside its track, preventing the nose gear from extending properly.