Incident Details
On 13 November 2017, a Piper PA-32R-301T aircraft, registration ZS-STW, was involved in an incident at Louis Trichardt Aerodrome (FALO) in Limpopo Province, South Africa. The aircraft had departed from Wonderboom Aerodrome (FAWB) at approximately 1500Z, carrying a pilot and a passenger. It was the second flight of the day; the aircraft had flown from FALO to FAWB earlier that morning.
While on downwind for runway 28 at FALO, the pilot lowered the landing gear. An audible warning and a "Warning Gear Unsafe" light indicated that the nose landing gear was not in the down and locked position. The pilot cycled the landing gear four times but was unable to obtain a green light for the nose gear. He did not use the emergency landing gear system.
The passenger telephoned a family member on the ground near the aerodrome to observe the nose gear during a low-level fly-by. The family member reported that the nose gear appeared to be down. The pilot proceeded with the approach.
During the landing roll on runway 28, when brakes were applied, the nose landing gear collapsed. Directional control was lost, and the aircraft veered off the runway to the left, coming to rest on the grass in a nose-down attitude. The main landing gear remained extended. The propeller, lower engine cowling, and nose gear actuator mounts were damaged. The pilot and passenger were not injured. The incident occurred after sunset at 1700Z.
Investigation Findings
The investigation revealed that the nose gear failed to lock in the extended position due to the failure of the attachment mountings, which resulted from a hard landing. It was determined that the pilot did not use the emergency landing gear system after the gear unsafe warning.
Additional findings included that the pilot was not the holder of a valid Private Pilot's License and the aircraft type was not endorsed on his license. The pilot had flown 91.5 hours without a valid license or rating. The owner of the aircraft stated he was unaware of the license expiry. The Certificate of Airworthiness and Certificate of Registration were valid. Fuel records were not properly maintained in the Flight Folio. A 100-hour mandatory periodic inspection had been carried out on 31 August 2017 at 2653.7 airframe hours; the aircraft had flown 73.7 hours since then.
The Pilot Operating Handbook requires the use of the Emergency Extension system if the landing gear is not down and locked. The emergency landing gear extension knob was not activated during the flight. According to a technical report, the nose gear actuator mounts were forced out of the airframe, indicating a hard landing. Air Traffic Control records showed the take-off time from FAWB was 1534Z, not 1500Z as reported by the pilot, making the arrival time after dark.
Conclusion
The probable cause of the incident was the nose gear collapsing due to the failure of the nose gear attachment mountings as a result of a hard landing. A contributory factor was the failure to operate an emergency landing gear system.