Accident Details
On July 23, 2016, at 1325 eastern daylight time, a privately owned and operated Cessna 310L, registration N3261X, was substantially damaged when its main landing gear collapsed while landing at Linden Airport (LDJ) in Linden, New Jersey. The commercial pilot/owner and a copilot were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the local personal flight, which originated at LDJ and was conducted under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.
Both pilots provided written statements with consistent accounts. The pilot stated the purpose of the flight was to perform a functional check of all systems before flying his family to North Carolina. The airplane, its radios, and autopilot functioned as designed with no anomalies noted.
As the airplane approached LDJ, the pilot configured flaps and landing gear for landing on runway 27. He confirmed three green landing gear lights and visually verified the nose landing gear was down and locked using the airframe-mounted mirror. At touchdown, the pilot heard a "noise" and the copilot described a "bang" before the airplane's tail dropped to the runway. The airplane departed the right side of the runway and settled in the grass apron. After touchdown, the copilot attempted to feather the engines but succeeded only in feathering the right propeller.
Aircraft and Pilot Information
According to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) records, the pilot held a commercial pilot certificate with ratings for airplane single-engine land, multiengine land, and instrument airplane, as well as a mechanic certificate with airframe and powerplant ratings. He was issued an FAA second-class medical certificate on April 16, 2016, and reported 1,660 total hours of flight experience. The copilot also held a commercial pilot certificate with similar ratings and was issued an FAA second-class medical certificate on September 2, 2015, reporting 1,200 total hours. The airplane's most recent annual inspection was completed by the pilot/owner on November 11, 2015, at 3,672.1 total aircraft hours.
Landing Gear Examination
Examination by an airframe and powerplant mechanic who recovered the airplane from the runway revealed that the nose landing gear was down and locked, but the main landing gear were partially collapsed and would not lock when the airplane was lifted and the gear was moved by hand. The main landing gear was then blocked, and the airplane was retained for further examination.
Photographs showed substantial damage to the airframe structure in the tail section. The nose landing gear was down and locked; the landing gear doors were partially open, indicating a transition between retracted and deployed positions. The right propeller blades were in the feathered position.
Later, under FAA supervision, the airplane was de-paneled, revealing the landing gear actuation linkages, limit switches, and landing gear motor. The inspection found damage to the landing gear down-limit switch and its mount bracketry, which was bent 90° from horizontal to vertical. The landing gear actuator had driven beyond the down limit switch, with its travel apparently stopped by the internal stop pin. The actuator bell crank driven beyond the down limit and toward the internal stop pin released the gear from its down and locked position, allowing it to partially retract and extinguishing the green landing-gear lights.
Before the NTSB released the wreckage, the insurer inadvertently sold it to a buyer who sectioned it, precluding a more detailed landing gear system examination.
Weather Conditions
At 1315, the weather reported at LDJ included clear skies, wind from 320 degrees at 9 knots gusting to 19 knots, temperature 34°C, dew point 14°C, and altimeter setting 29.86 inches of mercury.