Accident Overview
On March 16, 2026, about 1257 Pacific daylight time, a Lancair Legacy, registration N212LG, sustained substantial damage during a landing accident near Hillsboro, Oregon. The private pilot, who also built the airplane and holds a repairman certificate, was not injured. The flight was conducted under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight.
Landing and Gear Failure
The pilot reported that after an uneventful local flight, he configured the airplane for landing on runway 31L. The airplane touched down on the main landing gear, and during deceleration, the nose landing gear contacted the runway. The nose gear then experienced a violent shimmy that persisted as the airplane slowed. As the pilot prepared to exit the runway, he applied brakes, and the nose landing gear subsequently collapsed. The propeller struck the runway surface, and the airplane came to rest in a nose-low attitude on the runway. During the sequence, several engine mounts and part of the forward fuselage structural tubing cracked.
Pilot Statements
The pilot stated that the landing gear indications in the cockpit showed the gear in the down and locked position. He noted that the nose landing gear incorporated a stainless-steel bushing modification in the over-center hinge. During the most recent condition inspection, the mechanism appeared to move over-center as intended.
Flight Data Analysis
Data recorded by the Garmin G3X flight display indicated that at 1254:50, the gear extension cycle was initiated, and the gear remained in transit for about 5 seconds, consistent with an airborne extension. At 1254:56, the data showed the landing gear was down and locked while the airplane was still airborne. At 1256:25, weight-on-wheels was detected with no gear fault present. About 12 seconds later, the gear-down indication was lost while weight-on-wheels remained active, and a gear fault was recorded. Between 1256:38 and 1256:40, the gear fault indication cleared briefly before returning at 1256:43, when a persistent gear fault was present with no gear-down indication while the airplane remained sensed as on the ground. The canopy was opened at 1257:04.