What happened
The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.
Narrative: on retraction of the nose gear, the pilot-in-command heard a loud noise. He then noticed on a subsequent extension that the gear would not lock down. Examination of the system showed a failure on the nose gear idler bell crank. Metallurgical examination of the idler bell crank by use of the bench binocular microscope showed that the fractures revealed features typical of over stress separation. The bell crank was replaced and a gear retraction test was conducted and the system operated normally. The problem could not be duplicated. The nose wheel centering mechanism was examined and no abnormalities were noted. NTSB determined the probable cause of incident was failure of the nose gear idler bell crank due to over stress by an undetermined source.
As the FAA filed it
NARRATIVE: ON RETRACTION OF THE NOSE GEAR, THE PILOT-IN-COMMAND HEARD A LOUD NOISE. HE THEN NOTICED ON A SUBSEQUENT EXTENSION THAT THE GEAR WOULD NOT LOCK DOWN. EXAMINATION OF THE SYSTEM SHOWED A FAILURE ON THE NOSE GEAR IDLER BELL CRANK. METALLURGICAL EXAMINATION OF THE IDLER BELL CRANK BY USE OF THE BENCH BINOCULAR MICROSCOPE SHOWED THAT THE FRACTURES REVEALED FEATURES TYPICAL OF OVER STRESS SEPARATION. THE BELL CRANK WAS REPLACED AND A GEAR RETRACTION TEST WAS CONDUCTED AND THE SYSTEM OPERATED NORMALLY. THE PROBLEM COULD NOT BE DUPLICATED. THE NOSE WHEEL CENTERING MECHANISM WAS EXAMINED AND NO ABNORMALITIES WERE NOTED. NTSB DETERMINED THE PROBABLE CAUSE OF INCIDENT WAS FAILURE OF THE NOSE GEAR IDLER BELL CRANK DUE TO OVER STRESS BY AN UNDETERMINED SOURCE.
NTSB investigation
The NTSB’s investigation of this event, with its probable cause and findings. Matched to this report by N-number and date.