What happened
Following an initial departure, the flight crew conducted a touch-and-go maneuver at Mountain Air Airport. During the process of retracting the landing gear after this maneuver, the crew observed an unsafe gear indication. In an attempt to rectify the issue, the crew cycled the landing gear down, which resulted in a normal three-green indication. However, upon retracting the gear a second time, the unsafe gear light reappeared.
Due to the persistent indication error, the crew diverted the aircraft type to Greensboro, North Carolina. During the landing phase at the diversion airport, the right main landing gear of the aircraft type collapsed. Post-accident investigations revealed that components of the landing gear from the aircraft had been left on the runway at the previous location, Mountain Air Airport.
Findings
An inspection of the runway at Mountain Air Airport by an FAA official indicated that the aircraft had made contact with the ground short of the runway during its earlier touch-and-go maneuver. Subsequent metallurgical analysis of the landing gear parts showed that the components had suffered fractures. These fractures were determined to be consistent with overstress separation, and investigators found no evidence of fatigue-related failure.