What happened
During an arrival at Slave Creek Airport, a twin engine airplane experienced a heavy impact upon touching down. The force of the landing caused the aircraft to bounce, during which time the undercarriage was ripped from the airframe. Following the structural failure of the landing gear, the plane came to a stop on the ground.
There were no injuries reported among the two pilots on board. However, the impact resulted in the total loss of the aircraft, as it was declared a write-off following the incident.
Findings
Investigations into the accident identified that the primary cause was an improper level-off maneuver performed by the pilot-in-command, which led to a hard landing. Several contributing factors were noted in the official report:
- An unsuccessful attempt to recover from the bounced landing
- Structural failure due to overload