What happened
During the landing sequence, the pilot was instructed to enter a left base pattern and subsequently received clearance to land. While reducing airspeed to extend the landing gear, the pilot confirmed that the gear was down and locked via the cockpit indicators. The aircraft touched down on its main wheels, and as the nose was lowered, the nose landing gear collapsed. This failure caused the nose of the aircraft and both propellers to make contact with the runway surface.
The aircraft slid roughly 3,000 feet along the runway before coming to a rest at the right edge. The impact of broken propeller fragments caused significant damage to two fuselage station bulkheads, while the area of the fuselage forward of the nose gear well also sustained heavy damage from runway contact. There were no reported fatalities or injuries during the incident.
Findings
An investigation by the FAA revealed several mechanical and procedural issues. The inspection of the Fairchild SA226 determined that the up-lock mechanism for the nose landing gear had not been adequately lubricated. Furthermore, a critical clearance measurement between the positioning cam and the bell crank roller was found to be outside of the required tolerance levels.
Additionally, while the landing gear warning horn did activate when throttles were retarded, the sound was noted to be nearly inaudible. The investigation also highlighted a discrepancy in maintenance records; the operator's approved inspection sheet failed to include the requirement for lubricating the main and nose landing gear every 200 hours, as specified in the manufacturer's maintenance manual.