What happened
On 12 February 2009, a scheduled passenger flight was operating a route from Rhodes back to Heraklion. The aircraft had completed several successful legs earlier that day without any reported technical issues, and the pre-flight inspection revealed no abnormalities. The flight departed Rhodes at 18:30 h, carrying a total of 15 passengers and 3 crew members.
During the descent to 3000 ft, the crew requested and received clearance for a visual approach to runway 27. At approximately 7nm from the airport, the aircraft was fully configured for landing. While approaching the runway, the pilot in command requested a verification of the descent angle, which the first officer confirmed using the runway visual aids.
As the aircraft touched down at a speed of 86 kt, the pilot encountered significant difficulty maintaining the longitudinal axis of the aircraft. The pilot noted a rightward lean and reported that the landing gear had failed. Immediately following this, the right propeller blades made contact with the runway surface. The right main landing gear collapsed and folded backward under the wing, causing it to drag along the runway while the left main gear continued to operate normally. The aircraft eventually came to a halt 930 m from the initial propeller impact, with the nose wheel positioned 4.6 m to the right of the runway centerline.
Findings
Following the stoppage, the crew identified a fuel leak from the right engine. The first officer deactivated the electrical systems and requested that airport fire services apply foam to the right wing as a precaution against fire. The crew ordered an evacuation, and all 15 passengers and 3 crew members successfully disembarked through the left aft door without injury. The landing gear failure resulted in the temporary closure of the runway, causing diversions and delays for several other flights until the aircraft was removed later that evening.