Flight Details
The pilot departed and performed six touch-and-go landings and one full-stop landing at another airport. All these operations were uneventful. After departing to return to the original airport, the pilot lowered the landing gear using the normal system. The landing gear did not indicate down and locked, and the landing gear circuit breaker (CB) tripped.
Landing Gear Malfunction
The pilot reset the CB and cycled the landing gear up and down. The gear again failed to fully extend, and the CB tripped again. The pilot then attempted emergency extension using the lever as described in the Pilot’s Operating Handbook, and also performed G-loading maneuvers, but these were unsuccessful. Contact with maintenance personnel did not resolve the issue.
Fly-by and Landing Preparations
A fly-by was performed, and the pilot was informed that the landing gear appeared partially extended. On short final, the pilot had the passenger move to the back of the airplane because the aircraft lacked shoulder harnesses. The cabin door was opened slightly, the fuel and master switches were turned off, and the mixture controls were set to idle-cutoff.
Gear Collapse and Evacuation
Upon touchdown, the right main landing gear collapsed, followed by the left main gear and then the nose gear. The airplane came to rest on the runway to the right of the centerline. Both occupants evacuated the airplane.
Postaccident Inspection
An FAA inspector examined the nose landing gear and found a screw (part number 411 349) broken off in the first thread of the bellcrank assembly (part number 21708-00). The head of the screw, bushing P/N 14976-15, and bushing P/N 14976-16 were separated from the assembly and not located. No determination was made regarding the cause of the screw fracture. Piper Aircraft personnel reported no service difficulty reports related to the screw.