Accident Details
On April 30, 2016, at about 1556 eastern daylight time, an experimental amateur-built Velocity SEFG, registration N7044Q, experienced a landing accident at Worcester Regional Airport (ORH) in Worcester, Massachusetts. The airline transport pilot and a passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the local personal flight, which was conducted under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.
According to the pilot, immediately after the nose wheel made contact during landing, the nose wheel fork separated from the nose landing gear strut. The airplane then began skidding on the bottom of the nose landing gear strut. After the fork separated, the pilot applied and held backpressure on the control stick, which resulted in a propeller strike.
The pilot reported purchasing the airplane in November 2015. No preflight anomalies were noted before the local area flight, and no mechanical or performance deficiencies were observed before the final full-stop landing. There was no record of any maintenance performed on the nose landing gear fork.
Examination Findings
Examination of photographs showed the airplane resting on the nose landing gear strut with the nose wheel and its mounting fork separated. The nose wheel remained in the fork, and the nose gear fork was fractured at the gear mount attach point. The propeller tips were damaged, and parallel slash marks consistent with a propeller strike were visible on the runway surface prior to the airplane's final resting position. The composite airframe structure at the nose landing gear strut attach point had also fractured and punctured the cockpit footwell, resulting in substantial damage to the airframe.
Further examination of the nose landing gear fork revealed it fractured due to overstress.
Manufacturer Information
The manufacturer stated that this part and design had been modified twice because of similar fractures, as it had been discovered that excessive nose landing gear shimmying would result in overstress fractures. The first redesign included a dampener consisting of Bellville washers to reduce stress on the nose fork. The next iteration included a hydraulic dampener. In addition to changing the design of the nose fork, the new parts were made of a different material. The accident airplane did not have either modification installed and was equipped with the original nose fork.