ANC05LA087

The airline transport certificated pilot of the 14 CFR Part 91 positioning flight said that during landing, he landed on the main landing gear, and that when the nose wheel touched down, the airplane's nose gear pulled abruptly to the left. He said he applied right rudder and brake, but the airplane continued to the left, stopped abruptly, and nosed down. A postcrash inspection disclosed that the nose gear strut scissor was fractured. The operator reported that there were no known mechanical anomalies with the airplane prior to the accident. The right wing received structural damage during the accident.

On June 15, 2005, about 1245 Alaska daylight time, a Cessna U206F airplane, N7138Q, sustained substantial damage when the wing impacted the runway during the landing roll at the Homer Airport, Homer, Alaska. The airplane was being operated by Homer Air Inc. of Homer, as a visual flight rules (VFR) positioning flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91 when the accident occurred. The solo airline transport certificated pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and company flight following procedures were in effect. The flight departed Silver Salmon, Alaska, about 1220.

During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC) on June 15, the chief pilot for the operator said the pilot told him that he landed the airplane on the main landing gear with a strong headwind. The pilot said when the nose wheel touched down, the airplane came to an abrupt stop, and the airplane rolled forward onto its nose and right wingtip. During a postcrash examination of the airplane, the pilot found the nose landing gear scissors were fractured. The chief pilot said that there were no known mechanical anomalies with the airplane prior to the accident, but the airplane had departed a very rough airstrip at Silver Salmon Creek, and he believed that, unknown to the pilot, the scissor probably fractured during takeoff. He said the right wing was structurally damaged when it impacted the runway during landing.

In a written statement to the NTSB dated July 11, 2005 the pilot wrote that during landing at the Homer Airport, he landed on the main landing gear, and that when the nose wheel touched down the airplane's nose gear pulled "abruptly to the left." He reported that he applied right rudder and brake, but the airplane continued to the left. He wrote that the airplane nosed down, and received damage to the propeller, nose gear, and right wing.