Incident Summary
On the same day as an annual and landing gear inspection, a pilot departed on an instrument flight rules flight plan. During the climb-out, the pilot heard a "pop" noise while the landing gear was retracting. After arriving at the destination airport, the pilot completed the before landing checklist, but the landing gear did not fully extend. Ground personnel informed the pilot that the main landing gear appeared fully extended, but the nose gear was only partially extended.
Attempts by the pilot to extend the landing gear were unsuccessful. The pilot executed a forced landing to the grass area adjacent to the active runway. The airplane touched down on the main landing gear, then ballooned back into the air, and subsequently collided with the ground in a nose-down attitude.
Findings
Post-accident examination of the airplane revealed that the left landing gear door link was not connected. A review of the airplane's logbook showed that an annual inspection and a landing gear inspection had been completed on March 30, 2003, the same day as the accident.