A C210 ON LNDG EXPERIENCED THE MAIN LNDG GEAR FAIL RESULTING IN ACFT SKIDDING OFF THE RWY INCURRING MINOR DAMAGE TO THE ACFT.

Narrative

ACFT HAS HISTORY OF GEAR MALFUNCTIONS -- MOST RECENT IN FEB/96. DURING AN INSTRUCTIONAL FLT; GEAR OP APPEARED NORMAL. WHILE EXECUTING MANEUVERS; WE ENTERED THE PATTERN AT 00V FOR TOUCH-AND-GOES. THE FIRST APCH WAS ABORTED AND A GAR EXECUTED. AGAIN GEAR OP APPEARED NORMAL. ON DOWNWIND THE LNDG CHKLIST WAS COMPLETED AND VISUAL CONFIRMATION OF THE GEAR WAS ACHIEVED. TURNING FINAL A FOLLOW-UP GEAR CONFIRMATION WAS PERFORMED. OVER THE THRESHOLD I CONFIRMED THE NOSE GEAR WAS EXTENDED. SOMEWHERE BTWN THE FINAL GEAR CONFIRMATION AND TOUCHDOWN; THE MAIN GEAR BECAME UNLOCKED AND BEGAN TO TRAIL WITH THE RELATIVE WIND. THIS WAS CONFIRMED BY WITNESS ON THE GND. AS WE TOUCHED DOWN; THE NOW TRAILING GEAR WAS PUSHED INTO THE WHEEL WELLS. THE NOSE GEAR REMAINED LOCKED IN ITS EXTENDED POS. WHEN I REALIZED WE HAD A GEAR MALFUNCTION I TOOK CTL OF THE AIRPLANE. AS SPD DECREASED; DIRECTIONAL CTL WAS LOST AND SKIDDED OFF THE L SIDE OF THE RWY. DAMAGE TO THE ACFT WAS MINOR. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: THE RPTR RELATED THIS WAS THE 5TH LNDG GEAR INCIDENT WITH THIS AIRPLANE. RPTR SAID THE ACFT IS STILL NOT FIXED AND IS NOT AWARE OF WHAT WILL BE DONE WITH THE ACFT.