Accident Details
On 4 July 2006, at approximately 1154 UTC, a Beech B58 Baron, registration N80HC, was involved in an accident during landing at Guernsey Airport. The aircraft, manufactured in 1975, was powered by two Continental IO-520C piston engines. The sole occupant, the pilot, held a Private Pilot's Licence and had 1,658 hours of flying experience, including 120 hours on type. No passengers were on board.
History of the Flight
The pilot reported that during a visual approach to Runway 27, all landing checks were completed and a normal touchdown was made. As the nosewheel was lowered onto the runway, a loud bang was heard, followed by the landing gear warning horn sounding. The nose gear green light extinguished and the gear unsafe light illuminated. The pilot applied up elevator and go-around power, and during the subsequent go-around, observed in the mirror on the left engine cowling that the nose leg was swinging free and unlocked.
A flyby of the tower was carried out, which did not reveal any further information. A hold was then conducted to the south of the airport, where a partial retraction followed by gear extension using the manual emergency system was attempted. The nose leg remained in the same position throughout this procedure.
An approach and landing was then carried out on Runway 27. As the main gear contacted the runway, the engine mixture levers were selected to CUT OFF and the magnetos were selected to OFF. As elevator authority reduced, both propellers contacted the ground. The aircraft came to rest in a nose down attitude; the pilot selected the fuel and master switches OFF before evacuating via the main door. The pilot sustained no injuries.
Engineering Investigation
Subsequent examination of the aircraft by the repair company revealed that a bolt locating a drive rod operating the drag brace had sheared, thus affecting the geometry. As a result, the normal over-centring action could not take place during the gear extension phase and the nose leg could not be locked down. The failure of the bolt caused excessive loads to be applied to the system, leading to further failure. The landing gear assembly was returned to a company in the USA for repair and overhaul. No details of the failure mode of the bolt have so far been received. The aircraft sustained strikes to both propellers, shock loading to the engines, and damage to the underside of the forward fuselage.