History of the Flight
On 30 March 2004, at approximately 1240 hours UTC, a Cessna F172M Skyhawk, registration G-BEMB, was being operated on a private flight from Chichester (Goodwood) Airport in West Sussex. The pilot, aged 56, held a Private Pilot's Licence and had 380 hours of flying experience, including 69 hours on type. The flight was planned as a two-hour local VFR flight.
During the pre-flight inspection, the aircraft was found to be serviceable. After engine start, the aircraft was taxied to the fuel pumps, where both tanks were refilled to capacity. The pilot then received clearance from ATC to taxi along a grass taxiway to the holding point of Runway 06. Taxiing proceeded normally until the aircraft reached the west side of the runway intersection with Runway 14. At that point, the nose of the aircraft dipped and did not return to its normal horizontal position. Simultaneously, the pilot noticed that the rudder pedals had moved rearwards in the cockpit and had become locked. The aircraft was brought to a halt, the engine was shut down, and the electrical master switch was turned off. Both occupants vacated the aircraft without difficulty through the normal exit doors.
Engineering Examination
Examination of the aircraft by the pilot revealed that part of the lower nose-landing-gear oleo outer cylinder retaining clamp was missing. Further inspection located the missing piece of the retaining clamp lodged in the engine bay. This piece had the clamp bolt in place, but the stiffnut was missing. The head of a local aircraft maintenance organisation observed that the threads of the clamp bolt were undamaged. The clamp bolt stiffnut was not found.
The aircraft's maintenance organisation, which is not located at the airfield where the incident occurred, reported that they had not disturbed the nose landing gear attachments during the time they had been responsible for maintaining the aircraft, which had been for a number of years.
Damage
The nose landing gear was damaged as a result of the incident. No injuries were reported among the crew or passenger.