What happened
The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.
Pilot states he departed Watsonville muni (wvi) about 1130 local to practice IFR approaches at near by airports. When returning to wvi for his sixth and final approach and landing he states his gear was down on down wind and remained down for landing. He says the touch down was smooth on the main gear and then when the nose wheel touched down it started to wobble briefly and then collapsed followed by the main gear. He says the airplane skidded to a stop on the belly with a resulting propellor strike. Upon investigation by his mechanic it was discovered that the nose gear truss assembly appeared to fail at a number of locations which relieved tension from the over center mechanism resulting in the nose gear collapse. It appears that excessive side load on the main gear during aircraft skidding may have lead to the main gear collapsing as well.
As the FAA filed it
PILOT STATES HE DEPARTED WATSONVILLE MUNI (WVI) ABOUT 1130 LOCAL TO PRACTICE IFR APPROACHES AT NEAR BY AIRPORTS. WHEN RETURNING TO WVI FOR HIS SIXTH AND FINAL APPROACH AND LANDING HE STATES HIS GEAR WAS DOWN ON DOWN WIND AND REMAINED DOWN FOR LANDING. HE SAYS THE TOUCH DOWN WAS SMOOTH ON THE MAIN GEAR AND THEN WHEN THE NOSE WHEEL TOUCHED DOWN IT STARTED TO WOBBLE BRIEFLY AND THEN COLLAPSED FOLLOWED BY THE MAIN GEAR. HE SAYS THE AIRPLANE SKIDDED TO A STOP ON THE BELLY WITH A RESULTING PROPELLOR STRIKE. UPON INVESTIGATION BY HIS MECHANIC IT WAS DISCOVERED THAT THE NOSE GEAR TRUSS ASSEMBLY APPEARED TO FAIL AT A NUMBER OF LOCATIONS WHICH RELIEVED TENSION FROM THE OVER CENTER MECHANISM RESULTING IN THE NOSE GEAR COLLAPSE. IT APPEARS THAT EXCESSIVE SIDE LOAD ON THE MAIN GEAR DURING AIRCRAFT SKIDDING MAY HAVE LEAD TO THE MAIN GEAR COLLAPSING AS WELL.
Other reports on N231DT · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.