What happened
On January 26, 2001, a Cessna 210, registration ZS-ONY, was engaged in a private flight from Wonderboom (FAWB) toward a private aerodrome located approximately 10 nautical miles east of Hoedspruit. The aircraft had been recently released for service following a Mandatory Periodic Inspection (MPI) completed at a maintenance facility in Wonderboom on the same day.
During the approach to the intended destination, the pilot noticed that the down-lock indication was not appearing. Due to this technical uncertainty, the pilot decided to divert the flight to Hoedspruit Military Airport. After performing a fly-past of the control tower, the air traffic controller noted that the landing gear appeared to be in the extended position. However, during the subsequent landing attempt, the nose gear collapsed, causing the propeller to strike the runway surface. The aircraft remained on the runway and did not veer off course.
The investigation
SACAA AIID investigators examined the circumstances surrounding the landing and the mechanical state of the aircraft. The investigation focused on the sequence of events following the pilot's decision to divert and the specific mechanical failure that occurred during touchdown. There were 0 fatalities and 0 injuries resulting from the incident.
Findings
The investigation established that the primary cause of the gear collapse was the failure of the two nose gear down-lock pins, which prevented the down-lock mechanism from functioning correctly.