History of the Flight
On 4 September 2005, at 1522 hours UTC, a Cessna T310R, registration G-VDIR, was preparing to land at North Weald Airfield, Essex, to take on fuel. The pilot reported that he became aware that he did not have a 'three greens' undercarriage indication in the cockpit. Air Traffic Control subsequently confirmed that the main landing gear did not appear to be fully extended.
The pilot then entered a period of circling in the local area while attempting to extend the gear fully. He tried both cycling the retraction system electrically and using the manual crank mechanism. These attempts continued for approximately 30 minutes, at which point an electrical burning smell became apparent and the gear had still failed to lock down correctly. Following this, a gentle touchdown was made on the grass adjoining the runway with the gear in a partially extended condition. Upon touchdown, the gear collapsed and the aircraft subsided onto its fuselage. After sliding a short distance, the aircraft came to rest and the pilot disembarked. The pilot, who was the sole occupant, was not injured.
Post-Accident Examination
The aircraft was examined subsequently by an insurance assessor. After the aircraft had been lifted and appropriately supported, the assessor was able to manually extend and lock down all three landing gears. However, deformations of the various rods and cranks which made up the electrically actuated system, caused by the gear collapsing after touchdown, prevented the assessor from determining the cause of the original malfunction.
The nature of damage sustained by the aircraft included damage to the landing gear doors, propellers, and tail cone. The pilot held a Private Pilot's Licence and had a total flying experience of 800 hours, of which 260 were on this type.