Accident Overview
On January 2, 2018, at approximately 0920 Pacific standard time, a Cessna T210L airplane, registration N2122S, was substantially damaged during landing at Aurora State Airport (UAO) in Aurora, Oregon. The private pilot, who was the sole occupant, was not injured. The flight was conducted under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal cross-country flight, originating from Paine Field (PAE) in Everett, Washington, at about 0758, with a destination of Aurora. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed.
Pilot Report
According to a report submitted to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC), the pilot stated that while on the downwind leg for runway 35 at UAO, he activated the landing gear extension lever. The orange (in-transit) light extinguished, but the green (down and locked) light did not illuminate. The pilot noted that the gear appeared to be down. He requested a control tower fly-by so the controller could observe the landing gear position; the controller confirmed the gear appeared down and cleared the pilot for a left downwind approach and landing. While on downwind, the pilot attempted to raise and lower the gear again, but although the orange light would illuminate, the green light did not. The pilot reported that the gear appeared down when viewed through the airplane's landing gear mirror.
Shortly after touchdown, the right main landing gear collapsed, causing the airplane to swerve right and veer into the runway safety area. The airplane came to rest on its left main landing gear, nose gear, and right wing tip. Substantial damage was sustained to the right horizontal stabilizer and elevator. The pilot also mentioned that he forgot to perform the alternate landing gear extension procedure prior to landing.
Post-Accident Examination
Under the supervision of a Federal Aviation Administration aviation safety inspector, a post-accident examination of the landing gear system was conducted on January 8, 2018, at the facilities of Willamette Aviation at Aurora State Airport. The examination revealed no anomalies in the landing gear hydraulic lines, electrical wires, actuators, locks, valves, or other components. The hydraulic fluid level was above the ADD mark, and no obvious hydraulic leaks were observed.
The landing gear switch handle was found in the GEAR DOWN position, and all three landing gear were visually and physically confirmed to be in the DOWN and LOCKED positions. The landing gear down lock actuators were extended, and the locks were positioned appropriately over the lock pins with visually confirmed engagement. When the master switch was turned ON, the green GEAR DOWN indicator illuminated after the hydraulic power pack ran for about one second.
The airplane was then jacked, and the landing gear was retracted and extended eight cycles over approximately 40 minutes. The gear functioned as described in the Cessna T210L maintenance manual, with positive down lock engagement. A green GEAR DOWN light indication followed by the hydraulic pump shutting off was observed. Both retraction and extension cycles were completed in about eight seconds, with only slight increases in cycle times when resistance was applied to individual gear legs. The landing gear warning horn system also operated normally. The examination found no evidence to explain what precipitated the collapse of the right main landing gear during the landing roll.