What happened
During a normal touchdown on the runway, the aircraft experienced a failure of the right forward support tube on the nose actuator attach foot. This failure was caused by a fatigue crack at the weld joint. As a result of this structural failure, the airplane veered to the right, which led to an overstress fracture of the left forward support tube on the nose actuator attach foot and a partial collapse of the nose landing gear. The pilot was able to bring the aircraft to a stop on the runway.
The investigation
Investigators examined the nose landing gear assembly and found that the right forward support tube had failed due to a fatigue crack at the weld joint. It was noted that Service Bulletin 1154A, which was issued by the manufacturer following previous failures of the engine mount at the actuator attach foot attach point, had been performed 63.9 hours prior to the accident. This specific service bulletin requires repetitive inspections every 100 hours of time in service unless a newly designed engine mount is installed.