20220717012309A

Aircraft departed sherman-private airport (MA63) on the first flight of the day bound for Cranland Airport (28M), visual meterotical conditions prevailed. The aircraft landed Cranland Airport runway 18, nose wheel assembly departed the NLG gear after nose wheel axle through bolt failed. The NLG assembly contacted runway surface and collapsed causing the propeller to contact the runway surface and sudden engine stoppage. The aircraft came to rest on the runway surface left of runway centerline. As a result of the nose landing gear assembly collapse, this caused the engine mount assembly to crack and causing structural damage to the firewall assembly and several stiffeners aft of firewall assembly. A conversation with the aircraft owner/operator discovered that 2 days prior to the aircraft accident, after landing at sherman private airport, the nose landing gear strut assembly was witnessed leaking hydraulic fluid and had collapsed due to no fluid or nitrogen remaining in nose landing gear shock strut. The owner attempted to service the nose shock strut assembly, hydraulic fluid was serviced into the shock strut, however unable to service strut with nitrogen resulting in improper servicing of the nose landing gear shock strut assembly and the strut being very rigid with no shock damping effect. The pilot choose to depart sherman private airport for Cranland Airport were maintenance personal are available to properly troubleshoot/service nose landing gear shock strut assembly. The pilot reported that the landing at Cranland Airport on the day of the accident was "a hard landing"