What happened
The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.
The pilot stated he was conducting touch and go procedures at lgb and had not noticed anything wrong with the aircraft on previous landings. Flying under calm winds and VMC, he was cleared to land runway 25L and configured the aircraft for landing. The pilot stated his touchdown speed was 78 knots and was dead center on the runway. The main wheels touched and as the nose was lowered, he noticed the aircraft attitude was lower than normal and pulled the mixture control to cut back on power. He stated out loud to the co-pilot they were going to have a prop strike.
The four 3/8 inch bolts which secure the nose wheel fork assembly to the strut were stripped through the nut plates. Two of the bolts were bent and all four had evidence of asphalt scoring. The spacer that goes between the top of the fork and bottom of the nose strut showed asphalt scoring but was worn more on the left side than the right, indicating a sideward uneven load grinding. On top of the nose wheel fork, the aft right bolt hole was gouged and worn at an angle indicating a sideward load applied to the wheel assembly.
July 14, 2015 a conference call was held with a Cessna field service representative. He stated the landing gear design is adequate but is not designed for abusive, hard, cross load angle or aggressive high speed landings.
As a result of this investigation, it appears the aircraft experienced a hard crab angle landing with the nose wheel contacting the runway at a right to left angle, stripping the attachment hardware from the nose wheel assembly, causing the nose wheel assembly to separate from the aircraft.
As the FAA filed it
THE PILOT STATED HE WAS CONDUCTING TOUCH AND GO PROCEDURES AT LGB AND HAD NOT NOTICED ANYTHING WRONG WITH THE AIRCRAFT ON PREVIOUS LANDINGS. FLYING UNDER CALM WINDS AND VMC, HE WAS CLEARED TO LAND RUNWAY 25L AND CONFIGURED THE AIRCRAFT FOR LANDING. THE PILOT STATED HIS TOUCHDOWN SPEED WAS 78 KNOTS AND WAS DEAD CENTER ON THE RUNWAY. THE MAIN WHEELS TOUCHED AND AS THE NOSE WAS LOWERED, HE NOTICED THE AIRCRAFT ATTITUDE WAS LOWER THAN NORMAL AND PULLED THE MIXTURE CONTROL TO CUT BACK ON POWER. HE STATED OUT LOUD TO THE CO-PILOT THEY WERE GOING TO HAVE A PROP STRIKE.
THE FOUR 3/8 INCH BOLTS WHICH SECURE THE NOSE WHEEL FORK ASSEMBLY TO THE STRUT WERE STRIPPED THROUGH THE NUT PLATES. TWO OF THE BOLTS WERE BENT AND ALL FOUR HAD EVIDENCE OF ASPHALT SCORING. THE SPACER THAT GOES BETWEEN THE TOP OF THE FORK AND BOTTOM OF THE NOSE STRUT SHOWED ASPHALT SCORING BUT WAS WORN MORE ON THE LEFT SIDE THAN THE RIGHT, INDICATING A SIDEWARD UNEVEN LOAD GRINDING. ON TOP OF THE NOSE WHEEL FORK, THE AFT RIGHT BOLT HOLE WAS GOUGED AND WORN AT AN ANGLE INDICATING A SIDEWARD LOAD APPLIED TO THE WHEEL ASSEMBLY.
JULY 14, 2015 A CONFERENCE CALL WAS HELD WITH A CESSNA FIELD SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE. HE STATED THE LANDING GEAR DESIGN IS ADEQUATE BUT IS NOT DESIGNED FOR ABUSIVE, HARD, CROSS LOAD ANGLE OR AGGRESSIVE HIGH SPEED LANDINGS.
AS A RESULT OF THIS INVESTIGATION, IT APPEARS THE AIRCRAFT EXPERIENCED A HARD CRAB ANGLE LANDING WITH THE NOSE WHEEL CONTACTING THE RUNWAY AT A RIGHT TO LEFT ANGLE, STRIPPING THE ATTACHMENT HARDWARE FROM THE NOSE WHEEL ASSEMBLY, CAUSING THE NOSE WHEEL ASSEMBLY TO SEPARATE FROM THE AIRCRAFT.