Lancair 320, G-CBAF, 11 June 2005
Lancair 320, G-CBAF
Summary:
Prior to the accident flight the pilot carried out a pre-flight check of the aircraft and did not notice anything unusual with the landing gears. Following a successful local flight the pilot made a normal approach with the speed reducing to below 80 kt when the main wheels touched down on the runway, followed a few seconds later by the nose wheel. The pilot assessed that the landing was very smooth. About one second after the nosewheel touched down, the nose tipped down and the aircraft rapidly came to a halt. As the aircraft’s nose tipped down, the propeller tips impacted the runway and stopped the engine. Examination of the aircraft showed that the nosewheel mounted in its attachment yoke had become detached from the nose leg. Only three of the four yoke attachment nuts were recovered. All three nuts showed very good evidence of thread stripping which is indicative of the nuts being pulled off the attachment bolts during tensile loading. As the fourth nut was not recovered, it is possible that it may not have failed in the same way.
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