Piper PA-23-250 Aztec, N40267, 23 April 2011

Piper PA-23-250 Aztec, N40267

Summary:

The left main landing gear collapsed when the aircraft landed on Runway 03 at Virgin Gorda Airport, British Virgin Islands. The pilot stated that he had selected the landing gear down, observed three green landing gear position lights and carried out a normal landing. As the aircraft decelerated on the runway, the pilot heard the landing gear warning horn and the aircraft rolled to the left until its left wing and propeller contacted the runway. The aircraft skidded for a further 100 ft before coming to rest on the left side of the runway, where the pilot shutdown and vacated it without injury. The landing gear actuator for the left main gear had failed in overload. It is likely that the left main landing gear was not fully locked down, which resulted in the actuator being subjected to excessive loads that caused it to fail. The investigation did not determine why the left landing gear was not fully locked down.

Download report:

Piper PA-23-250 Aztec, N40267 09-11.pdf (208.41 kb)

Published 10 December 2014