ANC93LA083

During landing on a rough, uneven runway, the nose gear collapsed. The pilot reported that during recent winter storage the airplane had been towed by a line around the nose gear strut. He also related that the airplane had a record of a previous nose gear failure on landing. During the last annual inspection the airplane was determined not to be airworthy.

On June 7, 1993, at 0730 Alaska daylight time, a Beech BE56TC airplane, N9194Q, had its nose landing gear collapse on landing at a turf and gravel strip at Chistochina, Alaska, approximately 33 miles northeast of Gulkana. The flight had originated at Merrill Field, Anchorage, Alaska, at approximately 0600 and was conducted in visual meteorological conditions under 14 CFR Part 91 for personal reasons. No flight plan was filed for the 90 minute flight to Chistochina. The private pilot and his passenger were not injured and the airplane received substantial damages.

The pilot stated that following traffic pattern approach and normal touchdown, the nose gear collapsed and the aircraft's nose "kept going down until it hit the ground." He said that prior to touchdown, indications were normal and he had a manual and electrical indication of a landing gear system that was down and locked; as well as a visual indication of a safe gear from the reflection in a mirror mounted on the side of his engine nacelles. The pilot said that the "nose gear came off in a small indentation across the runway" and that the nose of the aircraft and propellers had been damaged upon contact with the grass and gravel covered runway. He related that the aircraft had a record of a previous nose gear failure on landing.

In a telephone interview with the NTSB, the pilot said that "during storage over the winter, the maintenance place had towed my airplane using a rope around my nose gear." The pilot provided information to the NTSB investigator that his current address was 3605 Arctic Blvd., Suite 322; Anchorage, AK 99503. The FAA FSDO-03 reportedly asked the pilot to produce, for their examination, the nose strut and the airplane logbooks.

The FAA FSDO inspector assigned to assist the NTSB reported that the airplane's logbooks had an endorsement made by an IA inspector during the last annual inspection to the effect that "the airplane was inspected and found not to be airworthy."