What happened
On 2 August 2002, a Jabiru SK, registration G-THOT, was performing a private flight from White Waltham to a maintenance facility at Southerly. The flight proceeded without incident through Luton CTR. Prior to arrival, the pilot requested weather updates from Marham, which indicated a visibility of 10 km and light winds.
Upon arrival at Southery, the pilot performed two fly-pasts to assess local conditions. Following these, the pilot commenced a left-hand circuit for the grass runway. Due to concerns regarding potential windshear and shifting wind directions, the pilot chose an aiming point further down the runway than usual. During the landing approach with full flaps, the aircraft experienced a float, resulting in a ground speed much higher than anticipated. While a go-around was considered, the pilot decided against it because the presence of trees at the runway end, combined with the high temperature and crosswind, made an aborted landing appear unfeasible. The pilot attempted to land by easing the stick forward. The aircraft touched down on all three gears simultaneously, bounced, and settled in a nose-down attitude. This caused the nose landing gear to collapse, which in turn fractured the propeller and caused enough shock loading to crack the engine's crankshaft.
The investigation
The investigation examined the aircraft's mechanical history and the environmental conditions at the time of the accident. It was noted that G-THOT had been involved in a separate incident in July 2002 involving an unusual noise during takeoff, though subsequent inspections of the nose leg and bulkhead had found no damage. Furthermore, maintenance performed after this accident found no evidence of prior damage to the nose gear assembly that would have contributed to the failure.
Findings
- The aircraft experienced a significantly higher ground speed than expected during the landing flare.
- The aircraft floated due to a combination of a tailwind and potential thermals caused by the high ambient temperature.
- The pilot's decision to land rather than go-around was influenced by the proximity of trees at the runway extremity.
- The landing resulted in a bounce and a nose-down attitude, leading to the collapse of the nose gear and subsequent damage to the propeller and engine crankshaft.