The pilot reported that while landing at his initial destination, the Piper PA-24’s right main landing gear partially collapsed. He told investigators that the initial touchdown was normal and not hard or side loaded.
Once the right main gear partially collapsed, he aborted the landing and attempted to retract the landing gear, however it would not retract, and the landing gear circuit breaker tripped.
The pilot contacted a mechanic and attempted to troubleshoot the problem during the flight back to his home airport. During the troubleshooting, he attempted to utilize the manual landing gear extension without success.
When he got to his home airport in Stafford, Virginia, he performed multiple low passes for the mechanic to observe the landing gear. The mechanic reported that the left main landing gear appeared to be almost fully extended, however the right main and nose gear were in a mid-transit position. After multiple failed attempts to correct the landing gear problem in the air, the pilot landed at his home airport. During the landing, the landing gear fully collapsed, resulting in substantial damage to the fuselage and the wing spar.
Examination of the landing gear by the mechanic revealed that the left and right main landing gear push tubes were bent, consistent with the push rods being overloaded. An operational test of the landing gear motor revealed that it operated normally.
Probable Cause: An overloading of the landing gear push/pull cable rod ends, which resulted in the landing gear being seized in an intermediate position during the subsequent landing.
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This March 2024 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
There are at least two recurring PA-24 Airworthiness Directives, including amendments, that involve landing gear, dating back to 1977.
Their stated intentions include:
Piper AD 77-13-21: “To prevent collapse of the landing gear after manual extension”.
Piper AD 97-01-01: “To prevent a main landing gear collapse caused by main gear sidebrace stud cracks, which could result in loss of control of the airplane during landing operations.”
There is no mention of specific AD compliance in the NTSB docket, but it makes me wonder…could they be a factor here?