What happened
On March 16, 2003, a Tecnam P 92 ECHO, registration PH-2Y7, was conducting a local flight from Lelystad Airport with one pilot and one passenger. During the pre-flight walkaround, no defects were identified. During the initial takeoff, the pilot noted that the grass runway was notably uneven, which required the full length of the runway to reach rotation speed.
After approximately 50 minutes of flight, the aircraft returned to the airfield. An initial approach was aborted due to excessive altitude, necessitating a go-around. The subsequent approach was performed at a proper height using full flaps. While the touchdown itself was reported as normal by both occupants, the aircraft began pulling sharply to the left immediately after contact with the ground. The pilot initially suspected a tire deflation, but the aircraft continued to veer left, bouncing across the surface and performing a 180-degree turn before coming to a halt on the left side of the runway. There were no injuries to the occupants, though the aircraft sustained significant damage.
The investigation
The investigation focused on the structural integrity of the main landing gear. The landing gear on the PH-2Y7 consists of a left and right leg attached to the fuselage via bolts and nuts. Investigators discovered that the entire left landing gear leg had detached and was found several dozen meters away from the aircraft's final position.
Upon examination, it was determined that the attachment bolts for the left leg had failed due to overloading. The investigation could not definitively establish the exact moment or mechanism that caused this specific overload; it remained possible that fatigue or cracking in the bolts had originated during a previous flight rather than during the landing itself.