What happened
On March 17, 2017, a Beechcraft 95 B-55, registration D-IUZI, was involved in a ground incident at Świdnik airport (EPSW) in Poland. The aircraft was being repositioned from Lisie Kąty to Ukraine, with an intended stop at Lublin (EPLB) for customs clearance. After experiencing radio interference during the flight, the pilot decided to land at the uncontrolled grass airfield in Świd and to have the equipment inspected at a local maintenance station.
At approximately 14:40 UTC, the pilot began taxiing from the maintenance station toward runway 24 at a speed of no more than 20 km/h. The pilot intended to turn 180 degrees to the left to depart from runway 06. During the execution of this turn, while transitioning from a right to a left turn, the aircraft's nose wheel encountered an old molehill located within the runway area but away from the centerline. Due to the high cockpit position, the feature was not clearly visible to the pilot.
As the nose wheel struck the uneven ground, the aircraft experienced a brief skid, causing the nose gear to collapse into its bay. This resulted in the propellers making contact with the ground, which brought the aircraft to a halt within approximately two meters. The pilot promptly shut down the engines and electrical systems before exiting the aircraft.
The investigation
The PKBWL examined the aircraft and the site of the incident. Subsequent testing of the landing gear at a hangar revealed that while the main gear functioned correctly, the nose gear mechanism suffered mechanical damage to its kinematics, causing it to lose connection with the extension and retraction system during an emergency extension test. The investigation also noted damage to both propellers, the nose cowling, and the nose gear bay doors. Both engines were flagged for specialized inspection following the sudden stoppage caused by the propeller strike.