Accident Overview
On October 18, 2023, at approximately 1736 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 210B airplane, registration N9597X, sustained substantial damage during an accident near Pueblo, Colorado. The aircraft was operated under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. The sole pilot was not injured.
Sequence of Events
According to the pilot, during landing gear retraction after takeoff, a popping sound was heard from the rear cockpit area. The landing gear retraction handle did not return to the center position as expected. Attempts to extend the landing gear were unsuccessful. The pilot then performed the emergency extension procedures, which resulted in the landing gear doors opening and the landing gear descending from their wells. However, only the nose landing gear locked into the down position, while the main landing gear remained partially extended.
The pilot contacted the Pueblo Municipal Airport (PUB) air traffic control tower and elected to remain airborne for several hours to burn off fuel. Multiple additional attempts to lower the landing gear were made but did not succeed. The pilot subsequently landed on runway 8R at PUB. During the landing rollout, the nose landing gear remained down while the main landing gear stayed partially extended. The airplane skidded to a stop, incurring substantial damage to the left horizontal stabilizer and elevator.
Damage
The accident resulted in substantial damage specifically to the left horizontal stabilizer and elevator. The aircraft was otherwise structurally compromised due to the landing gear malfunction.
Postaccident Examination
A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the right hydraulic actuator was fractured. The actuator was further examined by the NTSB Materials Laboratory. This examination identified features consistent with fatigue cracking originating along the retaining ring groove of the actuator. The remainder of the cross-section fractured from a combination of mixed overstress and fatigue after the fatigue crack reached its terminal size, and the housing barrel subsequently fractured due to overstress.