What happened
On the conclusion of a commuter air taxi flight, an airline transport certificated pilot was performing a landing on a hard surface runway. As the pilot lowered the nose wheel to the runway surface, the wheel-equipped airplane veered to the left. This maneuver caused the right wingtip and the propeller to make contact with the runway.
The investigation
The operator's director of maintenance conducted an inspection of the aircraft following the event. The investigation revealed that the right wing sustained structural damage, specifically affecting the wing ribs and the leading edge.
Mechanical examination of the landing gear assembly identified that the nose gear steering link, situated between the nose gear steering shaft and the nose gear steering collar, had fractured. Additionally, the attaching tab on the steering collar was found to be broken. While the damage to the steering components was documented, the specific mechanism that caused the fracture of the steering collar tab and the steering link was not determined. The steering link itself was not recovered.