A LANCAIR 320 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM FAILED. THE ACFT EXITED THE RWY AFTER LNDG WITH ONLY THE R GEAR DOWN. THE PROP AND LT WING CONTACTED THE GND.
Synopsis
A LANCAIR 320 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM FAILED. THE ACFT EXITED THE RWY AFTER LNDG WITH ONLY THE R GEAR DOWN. THE PROP AND LT WING CONTACTED THE GND.
Narrative
IT WAS GOING TO BE A NICE DAY SO I WANTED TO GO FOR AN AIRPLANE RIDE. I CALLED A FRIEND AND HE MET ME AT THE ARPT. WE TOOK OFF FOR A PLEASURE FLT. I DEPARTED RWY WITH A R TURN OUT. WE FLEW OVER ABC MOUNTAIN AND MOUNTAIN PEAK RESPECTIVELY. I SUGGESTED FLYING TO THE COAST SO WE COULD SEE THE BEACH. WE WERE N OF THE CITY AND I HEADED N SO THE BEACH WOULD BE ON MY PAX'S SIDE OF THE PLANE. I SET MY GARMIN 430 TO ZZZ FREQ AND ARPT IDENTIFIER AND SHOWED MY PAX HOW THIS WORKED WITH ITS DISTANCE; ETA; GND SPD; ETC. AT ABOUT ZZZ3 I NOTICED MY GARMIN 430 HAD SHUT ITSELF OFF. I TURNED THE RADIO OFF AND WAITED ABOUT 30 SECONDS THEN TURNED IT BACK ON. IT CAME BACK ON LINE AND DID ALL ITS OWN SYS CHKS AND SEEMED FINE AT THE TIME. I CHKED THE CIRCUIT BREAKERS AND THEY WERE ALL STILL IN. NOTHING HAD TRIPPED. EVERYTHING WAS FINE FOR ABOUT 5 MINS AND THEN THE GARMIN 430 WENT OFF AGAIN. THIS TIME THE INTERCOM WENT OFF AND I NOTICED MY COM #2 RADIO AND MY MODE C XPONDER WERE ALSO OFF. STILL NO BLOWN CIRCUIT BREAKERS. THIS TIME I TURNED OFF ALL THE RADIOS AND THE AVIONICS MASTER. WHILE THIS WAS HAPPENING I YELLED TO MY PAX THAT I DIDN'T SEE OR SMELL ANY SMOKE. WITH THIS SECOND FAILURE I TURNED AND STARTED BACK TO ZZZ3. I ELECTED TO FLY THE RIVER. I KNOW THE TOPOGRAPHY OF THE HILLS SO GETTING BACK TO THE ARPT WAS OF NO CONCERN. ONCE WE WERE OVER THE PASS I TURNED MY COM #2 RADIO AND MY AUDIO PANEL BACK ON SO I COULD ATTEMPT TO TALK TO THE TWR. I NOTICED MY XMIT LIGHT ILLUMINATED WHEN I DEPRESSED THE PUSH TO TALK SWITCH BUT THEY DIDN'T ANSWER. I COULD HEAR ALL OF THE RADIO TFC BUT NOBODY COULD HEAR ME. WITH THE PWR STILL ON I TRIED TO LOWER THE LNDG GEAR. THE R MAIN CAME DOWN AND LOCKED VERIFIED WITH THE GREEN LIGHT ON THE INST PANEL FOR THE LEG. AT THAT INSTANCE THE HYD PUMP WENT QUIET SO I KNEW I STILL HAD 2 GEARS NOT LOCKED DOWN. WITH THAT I STARTED EMER PROCS FOR EXTENDING THE GEAR. I PULLED THE CIRCUIT BREAKER FOR THE LNDG GEAR; REACHED UNDER THE INST PANEL AND OPENED THE DUMP VALVE TO RELIEVE ANY HYD PRESSURE THAT STILL MAY BE IN THE SYS. I THEN YAWED TO THE L TO GET THE L MAIN DOWN AND LOCKED THEN PORPOISED SEVERAL TIMES FOR THE NOSE GEAR. WITH THE ELECTRICAL FAILING I HAD NO WAY OF KNOWING IF IT WAS SUCCESSFUL SINCE MY GREEN LIGHTS WOULDN'T ILLUMINATE. IT WAS AT THIS TIME I TOLD MY PAX TO PREPARE FOR THE WORST BUT LET'S HOPE FOR THE BEST. WE BOTH PULLED OUR 4 POINT RESTRAINTS TIGHT AND I YELLED TO HIM WHAT MY INTENTIONS WERE. I STARTED FOR THE TWR HOPING THEY WOULD NOTICE ME. I GOT A RED LIGHT ON THE FIRST PASS. WE WERE GOING E TO W AT THIS TIME. I WENT OUT ABOUT 5 MI AND DID A 180 DEG TURN AND STARTED BACK FOR THE TWR. AGAIN I GOT A RED LIGHT SO I WENT OUT ABOUT 5 MI AND EXECUTED ANOTHER 180 DEG TURN. THIS TIME I GOT A GREEN LIGHT AND WAS IN POS TO ENTER A R DOWNWIND. I MADE A SHORT BASE LEG AND A SHORT FINAL COMING OVER THE THRESHOLD WITH THE R GEAR TOUCHING DOWN JUST PAST THE NUMBERS. THE PROP TOUCHED THE GND NEXT WITH THE L WINGTIP SHORTLY AFTER. ONCE THE L WING WAS ON THE GND WE STARTED A SLOW L HAND TURN. I WAS UNABLE TO HOLD A STRAIGHT HDG WITH THE R BRAKE. WITH ABOUT 75-100 FT LEFT TO GO IN OUR SLIDE THE R GEAR COLLAPSED; SLIDING OFF THE RWY TO THE L AND COMING TO A STOP ABOUT 40-50 FT INTO THE GRASS. ONCE ON THE RWY I SHUT EVERYTHING DOWN AND OFF EXCEPT THE IGNITION. WHEN WE WERE DONE SLIDING I TURNED THE IGNITION OFF; ASKED MY PAX IF HE WAS OK AND WE EXITED THE ACFT WITHIN 30 SECOND OF STOPPING.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.