Incident Overview
On August 22, 2009, at 1210 eastern daylight time, a Cessna T210M (registration N732MM) was substantially damaged during a landing at Dalton Municipal Airport (DNN), Dalton, Georgia. The certificated private pilot and a passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the local personal flight conducted under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.
Pilot Actions
According to the pilot, while in the traffic pattern for runway 32, he lowered the landing gear and observed that the right landing gear light was not illuminated. He cycled the landing gear twice, but the light remained off. The pilot then initiated a climb and manually pumped the gear. Although the gear appeared down and locked, the pilot contacted airport personnel via UNICOM frequency to visually inspect the gear during a flyover. Personnel reported that all gear appeared down.
Landing and Collapse
During the landing touchdown on runway 32, the right landing gear collapsed. The airplane swerved to the right and departed the side of the runway. Runway 32 is 5,603 feet long and 98 feet wide, constructed of asphalt.
Examination Findings
A Federal Aviation Administration inspector examined the airplane and noted substantial damage to the horizontal stabilizer. Further inspection of the landing gear system revealed that the right main landing gear actuator downlock spring was distorted. The most recent annual inspection was completed on November 4, 2008, with no anomalies noted regarding the landing gear.