What happened
On the morning of 27 December 2025, a private flight departing from Bram Fischer International Airport (FABL) in the Free State encountered a critical landing gear failure while approaching Wonderboom Airport (FAWB) in Gauteng. The aircraft, a Beechcraft King Air B200 with registration ZS-NTT, was operating under instrument flight rules with one pilot and seven passengers on board.
As the pilot prepared for arrival at the unmanned Wonderboom Airport, the nose and right main landing gears successfully transitioned to the down and locked position. However, the left main gear failed to deploy. Despite the pilot's attempts to utilize the manual emergency extension method, the left gear remained retracted.
In preparation for the emergency, Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting personnel at FAWB applied fire-retardant foam to Runway 11 to mitigate fire risks. The aircraft subsequently performed a belly landing on the runway. The impact resulted in substantial damage to the aircraft, including abrasions to the underbelly and radio antennas, as well as rotational damage to both propellers. There were 0 fatalities and no injuries were reported among the occupants.
The investigation
SACAA AIID investigators examined the landing gear system by accessing the mechanism through the cabin floor panels. The investigation focused on the mechanical link between the landing gear motor and the torque shaft. The aircraft was later recovered to a maintenance facility where it was placed on jacks to facilitate a detailed engineering inspection.
Findings
Technical analysis revealed that the nut intended to secure the pin connecting the left main landing gear torque shaft to the motor gearbox was missing. This absence caused the shaft to detach from the gearbox motor, which directly prevented the left gear from extending. The investigation identified that the left main landing gear torque shaft was inadequately secured during maintenance as a contributing factor to the failure.