Incident Overview
According to the pilot, the accident occurred during the landing phase on runway 36. While on short final, the pilot reached up to adjust his glasses, and one of the lenses fell out of the frame. The pilot stated that this event distracted him, leading to a hard landing on the nose wheel. The impact resulted in the collapse of the nose gear.
Damage Assessment
Examination of the nose gear revealed that the nose wheel had broken away from the strut. The nose gear assembly was bent aft, and the firewall sustained buckling. The extent of damage was confined to the nose landing gear area and the forward fuselage structure.
Pilot Report
The pilot did not report any mechanical or flight control anomalies prior to the accident. The aircraft was under the pilot's control throughout the approach. The distraction caused by the dislodged lens was identified by the pilot as the precipitating event that led to the hard landing.
Investigation Findings
The investigation focused on the pilot's actions and the sequence of events. No pre-existing mechanical issues were found that could have contributed to the accident. The hard landing was directly attributed to the pilot's distraction during a critical phase of flight.