Accident Overview
On November 22, 2015, at 1317 eastern standard time, a Beech 95 B55, registration N600VP, was substantially damaged following a nose landing gear collapse during landing at Albany International Airport (ALB), Albany, New York. The private pilot and owner was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a visual flight rules flight plan was filed for the personal flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
Pilot and Aircraft Information
The pilot held a private pilot certificate with ratings for airplane single-engine land, multi-engine land, and instrument airplane. His most recent second-class FAA medical certificate was issued on May 19, 2014. He reported 800 total hours of flight experience, with 157 hours in the accident airplane make and model.
The airplane was manufactured in 1974. Its most recent annual inspection was completed on December 23, 2014, at 2,012 total aircraft hours.
Sequence of Events
According to a telephone interview with an FAA inspector, the pilot stated that the preflight inspection and flight to Albany revealed no mechanical or performance deficiencies. While on approach for landing on runway 28, the pilot lowered the landing gear and confirmed that all three green landing gear lights were illuminated. He noted a "slight" crosswind. Upon touchdown, he felt an "unusual" nose wheel shimmy.
The pilot applied back pressure on the yoke to relieve weight off the nose landing gear, causing the airplane to lift off "slightly" from the runway. On the second touchdown, the nose wheel shimmy resumed. He again applied back pressure, but when the nose gear eventually touched down, it collapsed. The nose enclosure and propellers struck the runway, resulting in substantial damage to the fuselage.
Weather Conditions
At 1326, the weather recorded at ALB included winds from 320 degrees at 16 knots gusting to 25 knots.
Post-Accident Examination
Examination of photographs revealed that the nose landing gear trunnion was fractured. The trunnion segments were examined in the NTSB Materials Laboratory. The fork portion had sustained gross plastic deformation and had fractured into two parts. The fracture surface was consistent with overstress. No evidence of any preexisting conditions that may have contributed to the failure was observed.