What happened
At 01:33, an aircraft arrived at Torea Airport in Fak-Fak, where it experienced a heavy touchdown on runway 10. The landing occurred approximately 5 meters before the designated touchdown area. During the landing sequence, the left main landing gear made contact with the ground first, followed shortly by the right main landing gear, which touched down 4.5 meters from the runway end.
As the aircraft continued along the runway, the left main landing gear suffered fractures at both the front and aft pivot points. The descent of the aircraft caused the left side of the fuselage to make contact with the runway surface 200 meters past the touchdown point. The aircraft then slid along the runway for an additional 500 meters, with the left fuselage, wing tip, and left propeller blade tips all sustaining damage from contact with the ground. The movement ended at the right edge of the runway.
Despite the significant impact and sliding, all passengers and crew members were able to disembark from the aircraft without incident. There were no injuries reported following the event.
Findings
- The aircraft experienced a heavy touchdown prior to the touchdown zone.
- Structural failure occurred in the left main landing gear at two distinct pivot points.
- The runway was rendered unusable for five days following the accident.
- Following repairs to the landing gear, the aircraft was relocated to the apron on 8 November 2008.