What happened
During the landing phase at St John's Airport, an aircraft suffered a significant mechanical failure. As the plane touched down, the left main gear assembly underwent a structural collapse. This failure caused the aircraft to lose support on one side, forcing it to come to rest on its belly.
Despite the severity of the impact and the resulting damage to the airframe, all eight occupants—including the crew—were able to evacuate the wreckage without injury. The aircraft sustained extensive damage and was declared a total loss.
Findings
Investigations into the incident identified specific component failures within the landing gear assembly. The following elements were found to have failed under overload conditions:
- The damper lever jack
- The main jack
- The lever stay link of the left gear assembly
These components failed prior to the aircraft coming to a complete stop on the runway. While the failure occurred due to an overload, the specific origin of the stress or the reason for the component's inability to withstand the load could not be determined.