Accident Details
On June 18, 2009, at about 2115 mountain daylight time, a Bellanca 17-31ATC, registration N14797, sustained a collapse of the left main landing gear during the landing roll at Roosevelt Municipal Airport, Roosevelt, Utah. The commercial pilot, who was the sole occupant, was not injured. The airplane, owned and operated by the pilot, sustained substantial damage.
Flight Information
The flight was conducted under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal pleasure flight. It departed Roosevelt Municipal Airport approximately 15 minutes prior to the accident, operating in visual meteorological conditions with no flight plan filed. According to the pilot, the brief local flight was intended to check the operation of the turbocharger, which had recently undergone maintenance.
Landing Sequence
The pilot reported making a normal flare and touchdown, and the first 1,000 feet of the landing roll was uneventful. Subsequently, the left main landing gear green DOWN light extinguished, the red landing gear TRANSITION warning light illuminated, and the left main gear retracted. Following the gear retraction, the airplane exited the left side of the runway and collided with rough terrain. This sequence resulted in damage to the left wing and bending of the fuselage structure.
Post-Accident Inspection
A post-accident inspection of the left landing gear extension and retraction system was conducted by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Airworthiness Inspector. The inspector determined that the bolt connecting the hydraulic gear actuator rod to the gear leg support had failed. Further inspection revealed that, over a period of time, the bolt hole in the gear leg support had worn to a point where it had become elongated to about twice its original size. According to the FAA inspector, the elongation of the hole, and the looseness it would have created, should have been detected during at least the last couple of annual inspections.