Kotzebue, AK, USA
N9964M
Cessna 207
The airline transport certificated pilot was landing a wheel-equipped airplane on a hard surface runway at the conclusion of a commuter air taxi flight. As the pilot lowered the nose wheel to the runway surface, the airplane veered to the left, and the right wingtip and propeller contacted the runway. The operator's director of maintenance reported that the airplane's right wing received structural damage to wing ribs and leading edge. He also indicated that the nose gear steering link, located between the nose gear steering shaft and the nose gear steering collar, was fractured, and the attaching tab on the steering collar was also broken. He said that the mechanism for the fracture of the steering collar tab and the steering link was not determined. The steering link was not found.
On September 2, 2005, about 1224 Alaska daylight time, a wheel-equipped Cessna 207 airplane, N9964M, sustained substantial damage when it collided with terrain during the landing touchdown at the Ralph Wien Memorial Airport, Kotzebue, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) scheduled domestic passenger flight under Title 14, CFR Part 135, when the accident occurred. The airplane was operated as Flight 2641, by Bering Air Inc., Nome, Alaska. The airline transport certificated pilot, and the sole passenger, were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a VFR flight plan was filed. The flight originated at the Robert Curtis Memorial Airport, Noorvik, Alaska, at 1210. During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC), on September 2, the director of operations for the operator reported that the pilot was landing on runway 26. He said the pilot reported that when the nose wheel was lowered to the runway surface, the airplane veered to the left, and the right wingtip and propeller contacted the runway. At 1228, an aviation special weather observation at Kotzebue was reporting in part: Wind, 210 degrees (true) at 18 knots; visibility, 2 statute miles in light rain and mist; clouds and sky condition, few at 300 feet, 700 feet broken, 1,700 feet overcast; temperature, 46 degrees F; dew point, 46 degrees F; altimeter, 29.66 inHg. On September 7, in a telephone conversation with the operator's director of maintenance, he reported that the airplane's right wing received structural damage to wing ribs and leading edge. He also indicated that the nose gear steering link, located between the nose gear steering shaft and the nose gear steering collar, was fractured, and the attaching tab on the steering collar was also broken. He said that the mechanism for the fracture of the steering collar tab, and the steering link, was not determined. In the Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report (NTSB Form 6120.1) submitted by the pilot, the pilot indicated there was a mechanical malfunction/failure of the nose wheel assembly and checked "yes" in that portion of the report listing a mechanical malfunction/failure. The pilot reported that he and airport personnel walked the runway after the accident and recovered several pieces of the right wing navigation light assembly. The broken steering link was not recovered.
The failure of the nose gear steering mechanism during the landing roll, which resulted in a loss of control and subsequent encounter with the runway.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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