Incident Overview
On September 1, 2017, at approximately 1515 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 310G airplane (registration N8957Z) experienced a landing gear collapse during landing on runway 30R at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport (BJC) near Broomfield, Colorado. The aircraft sustained substantial fuselage damage. The pilot and one passenger were not injured. The airplane was operated by Zero Energy Aviation, LLC as a training flight under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and the flight was conducted under a visual flight rules flight plan.
Flight Sequence
The flight originated from Boulder Municipal Airport (BDU) at about 1315, with the intended destination of Greeley-Weld County Airport (GXY) in Greeley, Colorado. During the approach to GXY, the pilot lowered the landing gear and observed that the green gear-down indicator illuminated. On touchdown, he reported a “mushy feeling” and aborted the landing, leaving the landing gear in the down position. The gear-down indicator remained illuminated. He attempted a second landing with the same result and aborted again, again leaving the gear down. At that point, neither the red gear-up nor the green gear-down indicator was illuminated.
Diversion and Landing
The pilot proceeded toward BDU, the aircraft’s home base, with the landing gear still extended. He attempted to contact ground personnel at BDU via the common traffic advisory frequency (CTAF) but received no response. He then established communication with the air traffic control tower (ATCT) at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport. After performing several flybys of the tower, tower personnel confirmed that the right main landing gear was not fully extended. The pilot followed the emergency checklist and made another attempt to lower the gear. He subsequently landed on runway 30R, during which the landing gear collapsed.
Maintenance Findings
Post-accident examination by maintenance personnel revealed that the pushrod connecting the gear motor to the right main landing gear was bent. The reason for the bent pushrod could not be determined.
Pilot Information
According to Federal Aviation Administration records, the pilot held a private pilot certificate with an airplane single-engine land rating. He did not hold a multiengine rating. The accident aircraft is a twin-engine retractable-gear airplane.