SEA93LA204

At the end of a cross country flight, the airplane approached the private dirt airstrip for landing. The pilot stated that the airspeed was low on final approach and power adjustments were made to clear a fence near the beginning of the airstrip. The pilot stated that the airplane suddenly dropped during the flare and bounced a little on the runway. The airplane travelled down the airstrip for a short distance, the nose gear collapsed, and the airplane nosed over. Post-crash inspection revealed that the nose gear fork was broken in several areas. The fork was metallurigally examined. All fractures were consistent with overstress separations.

On September 18, 1993, at 1915 hours Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 182E, N3117Y, nosed over during the landing roll at a private airstrip near Quilcene, Washington. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed. The airplane was substantially damaged and the certificated private pilot and his three passengers were not injured. The flight had originated from Arlington, Washington, at 1830 as a pleasure flight.

During a telephone interview and subsequent written statement, the pilot reported that the airplane's airspeed was slow while on final approach and power adjustments were made to clear a fence near the runway. The airplane was flared at the end of the airstrip and the pilot stated that "...it (the airplane) just fell about four feet and bounced a little and rolled down the runway for 100 feet..." The pilot stated that the nose wheel broke off then and the airplane nosed over.

During the post-crash investigation, the nose gear fork was found to be broken in several areas. The nose gear fork was sent to the National Transportation Safety Board, Materials Laboratory for a metallurgical examination. The specialist reported that all of the fractures were consistent with overstress separations.