Accident Details
The accident occurred when an airplane landed on a 5,500-foot-long, 100-foot-wide asphalt runway. About 1,000 feet into the landing roll, the left main landing gear collapsed. The airplane initially veered left, then veered right, and came to rest in a grass area off the right side of the runway. The pilot did not report the accident to any authority; instead, a maintenance facility reported it 12 days later.
Maintenance Findings
The owner of the maintenance facility stated that four bolts, which secured the left main landing gear wheel to the strut, had sheared. The pilot subsequently stated that the bolts appeared to be "rusty." A request was made for the maintenance facility to forward the bolts to the Safety Board's Materials Laboratory in Washington, D.C. for examination; however, the maintenance facility had already discarded the bolts while repairing the airplane.
Aircraft History
The airplane had been operated for approximately 40 hours since its last annual inspection, which was performed about 2 months prior to the accident.