What happened
During the landing phase at Chevak, the right main gear of the aircraft failed. This mechanical collapse caused the plane to deviate from its path on the runway, eventually coming to a stop after veering off the paved surface. While the incident resulted in no injuries among the nine occupants, the structural damage sustained by the airframe was so significant that the aircraft was declared a total loss.
Findings
Investigations into the accident identified several contributing elements that led to the gear failure. The primary cause was the collapse of the right main landing gear upon touchdown. Several environmental and operational factors were noted as contributing to this event:
- The presence of a rut on the runway surface which caught the right gear
- Substandard maintenance of the runway surface
- Stress caused by an overload failure
- Presence of unfavorable wind conditions during the landing sequence