What happened
On 23 February 1999, a Falco F8L, registration G-CWAG, was involved in a landing gear incident at Prestwick Airport, Scotland. Prior to departure, the aircraft had been moved from its hangar to the apron using a tow bar attached to the nose landing gear. After the pilot left the aircraft to complete flight booking procedures, the passenger remained with the aircraft.
Following the completion of paperwork, the pilot and passenger boarded the aircraft and began taxiing toward the runway. During the taxi, Air Traffic Control (ATC) transmitted a warning to the pilot, noting that the tow bar was still connected to the nosewheel. The pilot acknowledged this transmission using his callsign but proceeded toward the runway. As the aircraft entered the runway, the nose landing gear collapsed.
The investigation
Investigators reviewed the aircraft accident report and analyzed recordings of the radio telephony transmissions. The investigation established that while the pilot did acknowledge the controller's message regarding the tow bar, he found the transmission to be unintelligible. The pilot later noted that he should have requested a repeat of the message rather than simply acknowledging it.
It was determined that the passenger had failed to hear the pilot's earlier instruction to detach the tow bar. The investigation also found that the attached tow bar likely caught on the raised lip of the runway during the taxi phase, leading to the structural failure of the gear.
Findings
- The nose landing gear folded back because the tow bar remained attached to the nosewheel during taxi.
- The tow bar likely snagged on the raised edge of the runway.
- The pilot acknowledged a radio transmission regarding the tow bar without fully understanding its content.
- The passenger did not remove the tow bar following the pilot's instruction.