What happened
On 16 June 2001, a Beech 200, registration F-GLTX, was conducting a private ferry flight from Kortrijk Airport, Belgium, to Manchester International Airport. The flight crew performed a standard approach to Runway 06R under weather conditions featuring 28 kilometres of visibility and broken cloud at 1,700 feet.
During the approach, the landing gear was deployed at 160 kt, with the crew confirming the gear was locked in place. The landing itself was initially normal; however, during the subsequent landing roll, a cracking sound was heard, and the nose of the aircraft suddenly dropped toward the runway surface. The pilot attempted to maintain control using the elevator to keep the nose elevated while utilizing the rudder to steer the aircraft off the runway and onto the adjacent grass. The aircraft eventually came to a stop on the grass with the nose landing gear collapsed.
There were no injuries to the two crew members on board.
The investigation
The AAIB examined the damage sustained by the aircraft, which included the nose landing gear leg, the engines, the propellers, and the nose wheel bay doors. The propellers and engines suffered damage after making contact with the ground.
Technical inspections of the nose landing gear strut revealed that the strut had broken at the right-side upper fitting and the drag brace attachment. Additionally, buckling was identified on the left and right side upper inboard and outboard attachments, as well as the forward nose wheel bay skins.
A metallurgical analysis of the broken strut casting determined that the fractures were the result of overload conditions. The primary fracture was located near the grease nipple hole on the front of the strut, with the fracture faces indicating separation occurred due to excessive force.
Review of the aircraft's technical logs showed no history of heavy landings since a nose landing gear overhaul had been performed one year prior to the event. It was also noted that the specific attachment areas that failed were not visible during a standard pre-flight inspection as they are located within the nosewheel bay.