ERA16LA052

The private pilot stated that, while on approach for landing, he lowered the landing gear and confirmed that all three landing gear indicator lights were illuminated. He noted that there was a "slight" crosswind, and, upon touchdown, he felt an "unusual" nose wheel shimmy before the nose landing gear trunnion fractured and the nose landing gear collapsed. Examination of the fracture surfaces revealed failure due to overstress with no preexisting conditions contributing to the failure. The airport's automated weather observation recorded a 40° crosswind at 16 knots with gusts to 25 knots about the time of the accident. It is likely that, while landing in gusting wind conditions, the pilot allowed the airplane's nose landing gear to contact the runway hard, which resulted in the overstress fracture of the trunnion and the resulting gear collapse.

On November 22, 2015, at 1317 eastern standard time, a Beech 95 B55, N600VP, was substantially damaged following a nose landing gear collapse during landing at Albany International Airport (ALB), Albany, New York. The private pilot/owner was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a visual flight rules flight plan was filed for the personal flight, which was conducted under the provisions of Title14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.In a telephone interview with a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector, the pilot stated that the preflight inspection and the flight to Albany revealed no mechanical or performance deficiencies with his airplane. While on approach for landing on runway 28, the pilot lowered the landing gear and confirmed that all 3 green landing gear lights were illuminated. He noted there was a "slight" crosswind and upon touchdown, he felt an "unusual" nose wheel shimmy. The pilot stated he applied back pressure on the yoke to relieve weight off the nose landing gear, and the airplane lifted off "slightly" from the runway. Upon the second touchdown, the nose wheel shimmy resumed, he again applied back pressure on the yoke, but when the nose gear eventually touched down, it collapsed. The nose enclosure and the propellers struck the runway, which resulted in substantial damage to the fuselage. The pilot held a private pilot certificate with a rating for airplane single-engine land, multi-engine land and instrument airplane. His most recent second-class Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) medical certificate was issued on May 19, 2014. The pilot reported 800 total hours of flight experience, of which 157 hours were in the accident airplane make and model. The airplane was manufactured in 1974, and its most recent annual inspection was completed on December 23, 2014, at 2,012 total aircraft hours. At 1326, the weather recorded at ALB included winds from 320 degrees at 16 knots gusting to 25 knots. Examination of photographs revealed that the nose landing gear trunion was fractured, and the trunion segments were examined in the NTSB Materials Laboratory in Washington, DC. The fork portion had sustained gross plastic deformation and had fractured into two parts. The fracture surface was consistent with overstress. No evidence of any preexisting conditions that may have contributed to the failure were observed.