Accident
On 20 August 2007 at 1659 UTC, a Cessna 172S Skyhawk, registration G-GFMT, sustained a nose landing gear collapse while conducting a touch-and-go landing on Runway 09R at Manchester (Barton) Aerodrome. The aircraft was on a private flight with one crew member and three passengers on board. No injuries were reported among the occupants. The damage included a detached nose leg, damaged propeller, shock-loaded engine, and damaged engine firewall.
History of the Flight
Following a local flight, the aircraft was positioned for a touch-and-go landing on the grass Runway 09R. The wind was reported as from 020° at 10 kt, varying between 360° and 050°. The pilot described the approach and landing as normal, maintaining back pressure on the controls after touchdown. After applying engine power for the touch-and-go and while retracting the flaps to 10°, the nose leg collapsed and detached. The pilot immediately shut off the engine and then shut down the rest of the aircraft systems. The pilot and passengers exited the aircraft normally, having not sustained any injuries. There had been no prior indication that the nose leg would collapse, nor was there a bounce or porpoise on landing that could have precipitated it. The collapse occurred approximately 20 metres from the threshold of Runway 09R, and the aircraft travelled approximately 100 metres before coming to rest. The pilot noted that there was a slight rise across the runway at the point where the nose leg first collapsed.
Examination
Examination of the aircraft revealed overload failures of the structure to which the nose landing gear was attached. There were no signs of fatigue or of any pre-existing failure of the nose leg that could have led to the collapse.