What happened
On January 7, 2021, a private Mooney M20-F, registration LV-LTT, was performing a general aviation ferry flight from Trelew to Comodoro Rivadavia, Argentina. The aircraft landed at Aeropuerto Internacional General Enrique Mosconi at approximately 19:40 UTC. While the pilot reported a normal landing sequence, the nose landing gear collapsed during the landing roll. This structural failure caused the propeller to strike the runway surface, leading to an immediate engine stoppage and the aircraft skidding along the pavement.
The pilot and one passenger were able to evacuate the aircraft without injuries. The incident resulted in significant damage to the engine and the nose gear assembly, as well as damage to the lower fuselage.
The investigation
Investigators examined the wreckage and the landing gear assembly to identify the source of the structural failure. The inspection revealed that the supports for the nose gear strut had fractured. This breakage caused the fork fasteners to break away from the fuselage firewall, which subsequently overcame the landing gear's locking mechanism, allowing the gear to retract.
The aircraft was sent to an aeronautical repair shop for further analysis. The repair facility reported that they could not identify a specific origin for the failure and found no evidence of progressive fatigue or improper previous repairs. While a mechanic on-site suggested the gear might have undergone a prior repair, the investigation found no maintenance records to support that claim.
Findings
- The nose landing gear structure failed under stress at the end of the landing roll.
- The failure was initiated by the fracture of the strut mounting supports.
- No macroscopic evidence of progressive fatigue or mechanical wear was found on the broken components.
- Investigators could not rule out the possibility that previous hard landings may have weakened the components, leading to the eventual failure during this specific landing.