What happened
On 3 April 2005, a Cheetah aircraft, registration ZU-DTY, was undergoing high-speed taxi tests at John Western Aerodrome in Kimberley. The aircraft, which had been constructed from a kit by its owner-pilot, was being prepared for its final inspection and a scheduled test flight the following week. During the taxi procedure, which was intended to adjust the propeller pitch and address an engine defect, the nose landing gear suddenly collapsed while the aircraft was traveling at approximately 40 mph along the centerline of Runway 02. The resulting nose-over caused the propeller to strike the runway surface and resulted in minor damage to the aircraft's wings and tail.
The investigation
Investigators examined the structural integrity of the aircraft's landing gear following the incident. The aircraft had no recorded flight time and had only undergone engine ground runs prior to the event. A preliminary airframe inspection had been completed just one day before the occurrence. The investigation focused on the physical components of the nose gear assembly to determine why the collapse occurred during a low-speed ground maneuver.
Findings
- The primary cause of the gear collapse was the structural failure of the nose landing gear strut.
- The investigation revealed that the strut had been manufactured using a tube with a material thickness that was thinner than the specifications required by the approved manufacturing drawings.