20201223020369I

Eon message text: mount Pleasant, SC (lro): N7875P, PA24, VFR, right gear collapsed on landing. POB: 1, injuries: none, damage: extent unknown. 12/23/2020 2000Z

Pilot statement: airman stated there were some gusts in the area but he was comfortable with landing. Airman had 3 greens when landing. Landed fine and rolled an estimated 200 yards, then right wing dropped down and plane drifted to the right. He corrected back to center, but then right wing immediately dropped again and this time when it drifted right they went into the grass, stopping pretty quickly. Plane hit a runway light on the way into grass. Airman said there was no prop strike or prop damage. He stated that the right wheel was shoved up into the airplane, and the left wheel and front wheel were still locked in place.

Witness statement: good morning. Here is my eye witness statement to the N7875P plane crash.

At approximately 3:18PM on December 23rd 2020 I witness N7875P?s plane crash on runway 35. At the time of the accident the winds were a direct crosswind flipping back and forth from 080-070 at 8 knots with a slight gust I am guessing around 11-12 knots. At one point I was considering switching to 17 since it was almost favoring that one more.

I was witnessed 1st in line to takeoff that afternoon. As I witnessed there was a first plane that came in for landing on runway 35. As that initial plane was touching down it was clear he was definitely fighting a decent crosswind. After he corrected a few times back and forth he landed and pulled off the runway without any problems. At this time I heard on the radio a second plane coming from the sw side of the airport on a left downwind for rwy 35. This plane I would later learn was N7875P. I watched him the whole way in and saw him as he was touching down just to see what to expect with the crosswind when I flew back within the hour. He touched down but the crosswind definitely pushed him to the left side of the runway. After he touched down he kicked the rudder hard right which aggregated the plane to an almost side load. He kicked it left to fix it and then right one more time at this point the plane was doing a hard side load and was heading right for the grass on a good 30-45 degree angle. Once he hit the grass the plane was going almost sideways at which point the right landing gear collapsed from either hitting something or just from hitting the grass. This I am not sure about exactly when the gear collapsed but it happened just before hitting the grass or when he hit the grass. I can tell you that the plane kicked up a ton of grass while sliding sideways. The plane just before settling lifted up on the left wing before dropping back down and settling.

After the incident I taxied in my plane down the runway to check on them at which point they were both out of the plane doing ok from what I could see.

My personal assessment was that they didn?t take into factor the strong crosswind and instead of dipping the wing into the wind they landed flat without any correction which caused the plane to drift to the left side. All 3 landing gears were intact at the time of touchdown and all were fine till at or just before running off the runway. The right gear must have hit something just before the grass or when they hit grass area from what I could see from the line.

This is my assessment of the accident and hope this help paint a clearer picture of the event. Let me know if you need anything else.