What happened
On 29 October 2006, a Van's RV-6A, registration G-EDRV, was conducting a private flight from North Weald to Sywell Aerodrome. The weather conditions at the time of arrival were clear with good visibility and light winds.
The pilot performed a touchdown on Runway 03 at approximately 55 kt IAS, which was initially described as a perfect landing. However, the aircraft subsequently encountered a bump on the runway surface, causing the aircraft to bounce. As the aircraft settled back onto the runway at a speed of roughly 25 kt, the nosewheel encountered soft ground. This caused the nosewheel to dig into the surface, leading to the collapse of the nose landing gear. The impact caused the aircraft to pitch into a near-vertical position before falling back onto its main wheels. There were no fatalities and no injuries to the crew or the passenger on board. The incident resulted in damage to the wing tip, the propeller, and the nose landing gear.
The investigation
The investigation examined the sequence of the landing and the physical state of the aircraft's gear. The pilot identified the primary cause as a combination of the soft ground conditions and the specific characteristics of the small nosewheel used on this aircraft type.
Findings
- The aircraft hit a bump on the runway surface following the initial touchdown, which induced a bounce.
- The nose landing gear collapse was triggered when the nosewheel dug into soft ground during the second touchdown.
- The aircraft's design, specifically the small size of the nosewheel, contributed to the difficulty of operating on such surfaces.