What happened
On 16 May 2012, a Cessna 421C Golden Eagle, registration G-HIJK, was performing a commercial passenger flight when it experienced a landing gear failure during its arrival at Bournemouth Airport. The aircraft had completed a standard visual approach to Runway 2 and touched down on the centerline near the aiming markers.
As the pilot lowered the nosewheel, an audible whining and rubbing noise was heard, accompanied by a slight vibration. As the aircraft decelerated using idle power, the vibration intensified into a severe shimmy and a loud whining sound. The aircraft then swung sharply to the left. Despite the pilot applying full right rudder and toe braking, the aircraft could not be maintained on the paved surface. After using approximately 500 metres of the runway, the aircraft veered 45 degrees off the pavement. The nose landing gear collapsed as the aircraft transitioned onto the grass, coming to a stop a few metres from the runway edge at a speed of roughly 10 to 15 kt. There were no injuries to the pilot or the two passengers on board.
The investigation
Following the incident, the aircraft was moved to a hangar for a detailed inspection. Investigators examined the nose landing gear and found that the leg had folded into the retracted position because the downlock mechanism had failed due to an overload.
An inspection of the nosewheel tyre revealed it had completely deflated. The cause appeared to be significant wear on the tyre sidewall, which had allowed the inner tube to become detached and wrap around the axle. Furthermore, the investigation looked into the mudguard, which was attached to the nosewheel fork via a shaped tubular brace. While the top of the mudguard remained attached, the bottom braces had broken. The right-side bracing tube had rotated nearly 180 degrees and become wedged between the fork and the tyre, which aligned with the pilot's report of a whining noise and vibration.
Findings
- The nose landing gear leg failed by folding into the retracted position due to an overload of the downlock mechanism.
- The nosewheel tyre had suffered massive sidewall wear, leading to total deflation and the inner tube becoming displaced around the axle.
- The mudguard bracing tube had broken and become jammed between the fork and the tyre, contributing to the initial vibration and noise.
- The failure of the bracing tube likely occurred during taxiing or ground handling, as the primary attachment points remained intact.