Cessna 337 Nose Gear Retraction Incident at Mossel Bay Aerodrome (ZS-EEM)

Incident Overview and Flight History On 9 July 2013, a Cessna 337 with registration ZS-EEM was involved in an incident at Mossel Bay Aerodrome (FAMO) in the Western Cape, South Africa. The aircraft, owned and operated privately by a 49-year-old pilot holding a Private Pilot’s Licence, had departed from George aerodrome following a mandatory periodic inspection (MPI). The pilot landed at Mossel Bay Aerodrome to pick up three skydivers. After taxiing to the skydivers’ hangar, the pilot boarded the passengers without shutting down the engines and proceeded to taxi to runway 27. While backtracking on runway 09, the nose gear retracted unexpectedly. The pilot reported that no warning horn sounded prior to the gear collapsing. The engines were shut down immediately, and the pilot and the three skydivers evacuated the aircraft. No injuries or fatalities were reported. The aircraft sustained minor structural damage to the forward propeller, nose gear, and underbelly. It was recovered to a hangar for inspection. The incident occurred in daylight conditions at 0815Z (0438Z in one section of the report, but 0815Z is the primary time listed in the header and location details) at coordinates 34° 09' 31