Accident Details
On November 14, 2021, about 1423 Pacific standard time, a Piper PA-28R-200 airplane, registration N5057S, sustained substantial damage during a landing at Boulder City Municipal Airport (BVU) in Boulder City, Nevada. The pilot and a passenger were not injured. The flight was conducted as a personal flight under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.
Landing Gear Issue
The pilot reported that after collecting the airplane from a paint shop, he performed two takeoffs and landings in the local traffic pattern to verify proper landing gear retraction and extension. Following that check, he and his passenger departed on the accident flight to BVU. During approach, the right main landing gear failed to extend. The pilot cycled the gear and executed several abrupt, high-G maneuvers in an attempt to free the right main gear from its retracted position, but it remained stuck. He then decided to land with the left main and nose landing gear extended. As the airplane slowed during the landing roll, the right wing dropped to the runway, and the airplane veered off the right side, coming to rest over a small ditch. The aft fuselage and right wing received substantial damage.
After the airplane stopped, the pilot positioned himself in the ditch beneath the right landing gear and pulled hard on the gear door. After several attempts, the landing gear suddenly dropped into the extended position.
Postaccident Examination
A postaccident examination involved lifting the airplane on jacks and inspecting the landing gear system. The emergency gear extension functioned normally; both the nose and main gear fell into the down and locked position. Mechanical damage was observed in the right main landing gear wheel well near the travel area of the gear door rod-end bolt. This damage was consistent with contact from the threaded end portion of the bolt. The right main landing gear door rod-end bolt had approximately four additional threads compared to the bolt on the left main landing gear. The bolt was removed and measured 1-4/25 inch, about 1/8 inch longer than the correctly installed bolt, which measured 1-1/32 inch.
The paint shop reported that the gear doors were not removed from the landing gear structure during the painting process, and that on this type of aircraft they do not remove the gear doors.