LAX93LA340

While in the traffic pattern, the pilot lowered the landing gear. The pilot reported that he saw the landing gears down green light illuminate and landed the airplane. During the landing the nose gear was the only gear in the down and locked position. The examination disclosed that the battery power was mostly depleted due to a broken alternator wire. The landing gear system was tested and it operated normally. The Cessna maintenance manual shows that the landing gear light is connected in series whereas the light will not illuminate unless all three landing gears are down and locked.

On August 28, 1993, at 1650 hours Pacific daylight time, the landing gear of a Cessna 177RG, N33195, collapsed while landing on runway 13 at Cameron Airpark, Cameron Park, California. The pilot was completing a visual flight rules personal flight. The airplane, registered to and operated by the pilot, received substantial damage. Neither the certificated private pilot nor his passenger were injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The flight originated at Lake Tahoe Airport, South Lake Tahoe, California, at 1600 hours.

The pilot reported in a telephone interview that during the landing roll-out the main landing gear collapsed and folded aft; the nose wheel remained down. The airplane slid off the left side of the runway and the left horizontal stabilizer struck about a 12-inch high taxiway light post.

Mr. Charles Nicolos, Main Air, Cameron Airpark, stated in a telephone interview on January 20, 1994, that he repaired the airplane. During the repairs, he found that the battery was dead due to a broken alternator wire. The landing gear system operated normally, but when the pilot selected the landing gear down, the nose gear went down and was locked in the down position by air loads. The remaining battery power was insufficient to fully extend and lock the main landing gears.