Accident Details
On March 8, 2009, at approximately 1730 central daylight time, a Piper PA-30, registration N8560Y, operated by a private pilot, sustained substantial damage when the landing gear collapsed during landing at I. H. Bass Jr. Memorial Airport (4R1) in Lumberton, Mississippi. The pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the personal flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91. The flight had originated from the same airport about 1700.
The pilot reported flying over the local area for approximately 30 minutes before returning for landing. During final approach, the pilot verified twice that the landing gear was down. The airplane touched down about 150 feet beyond the threshold of runway 14, a 3,000-foot-long, 75-foot-wide asphalt runway. The pilot stated the airplane touched down softly on the right main landing gear first due to a crosswind correction. About 1,500 feet into the landing roll, the airplane drifted left of centerline; the pilot applied right rudder pedal to correct. At that point, the airplane dropped onto its belly, slid about 75 feet, and came to rest on the runway.
Witnesses confirmed the airplane touched down and rolled a significant distance before the gear collapsed.
Examination Findings
A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector examined the airplane and found damage to bulkheads and a stringer. The landing gear system was inspected by the FAA inspector and an independent mechanic. The examination revealed that the left main landing gear sidebrace, sidebrace studs, and links were worn. These worn components allowed the left main landing gear down limit switch to make contact before the draglink reached the center or overcenter position. This early contact stopped the landing gear motor after the right main and nose landing gear locked, but before the left main landing gear had reached the locked position. Consequently, a minor sideload could collapse the left main landing gear.
Maintenance Records
Airworthiness directive (AD) 97-01-01R1 required an extensive landing gear inspection for the make and model every 1,000 hours time in service. A review of maintenance records by the FAA inspector showed the last such inspection was performed on March 22, 1997, at a total airframe time of 5,853 hours. At the time of the accident, the airplane had accumulated 6,795 total airframe hours, meaning 942 hours had elapsed since the last AD-required inspection. While the AD required inspection after 1,000 hours in service, it did not specify a calendar date. The most recent annual inspection was completed on January 20, 2009; the airplane had accumulated 5 hours of operation since then.
A search of the NTSB accident/incident database and FAA service difficulty reports for the preceding five years revealed no similar landing gear collapse events for the make and model.
Pilot and Wind Information
The pilot reported total flight experience of approximately 3,500 hours, with about 1,700 hours in the same make and model as the accident airplane. The pilot stated the wind at the time was from 170 degrees at 16 knots, gusting to 18 knots. The reported wind at an airport about 15 miles northeast, at 1753, was from 180 degrees at 14 knots.