What happened
On March 16, 2026, a Lancair Legacy, registration N212LG, was involved in an accident near Hillsboro, Oregon. The aircraft was being operated by a private pilot under Part 91 regulations for a personal flight. The weather conditions at the time were VMC with a visibility of 10 statute miles and winds from 210 degrees at 4 knots.
After completing an uneventful local flight, the pilot configured the aircraft for landing on runway 31L. The aircraft touched down on the main landing gear, and during the deceleration phase, the nose landing gear made contact with the runway. The pilot reported that the nose gear experienced a violent shimmy that persisted as the aircraft slowed. While attempting to exit the runway, the pilot applied the brakes, which resulted in the nose landing gear collapse. The propeller subsequently struck the runway surface, and the aircraft came to a stop in a nose-low position. There were no injuries resulting from the accident.
The investigation
The pilot, who holds a repairman certificate and built the aircraft, noted that the nose landing gear featured a stainless-steel bushing modification in the over-center hinge. The pilot stated that the gear indications in the cockpit showed the gear was down and locked, and the mechanism had appeared to function correctly during the most recent condition inspection.
Data retrieved from the Garmin G3X flight display provided the following timeline:
- 12:54:50: The gear extension cycle began.
- 12:54:56: The gear was indicated as down and locked while still airborne.
- 12:56:25: Weight-on-wheels was detected with no gear faults.
- Approximately 12 seconds later: The gear-down indication was lost while weight-on-wheels remained active, and a gear fault was recorded.
- 12:56:38 to 12:56:40: The gear fault indication briefly cleared.
- 12:56:43: A persistent gear fault returned, with no gear-down indication while the aircraft was on the ground.
- 12:57:04: The canopy was opened.