What happened
The incident began during the landing phase of flight when the airplane experienced a significant bounce upon initial touchdown. Following this bounce, the aircraft touched down again but immediately began to veer toward the left side of the runway. The pilot attempted to correct the trajectory and maintain alignment with the runway centerline; however, directional control could not be re-established.
As the aircraft continued its uncontrolled path, it departed the paved surface on the left side. Upon leaving the runway, the airplane executed a ground loop, a maneuver where the aircraft pivots sharply around its vertical axis due to loss of steering control. This violent rotation placed excessive stress on the airframe and landing gear components.
The mechanical consequences were severe. The forces generated during the ground loop caused the right main landing gear assembly to collapse. The pilot reported that the sequence of events—starting with the bounce, followed by the veer, and culminating in the loss of control—led directly to the structural failure of the right side landing gear.
The investigation
Post-acc examination confirmed the collapse of the right main gear. The narrative provided by the pilot indicated that directional control was lost prior to the gear failure, suggesting that the ground loop was a result of aerodynamic or steering issues rather than the initial cause of the gear collapse.