Readington, NJ, USA
N44DB
BEECH K35
On the base leg of the traffic pattern, the pilot lowered the landing gear and the green landing gear indicator light illuminated. During the subsequent landing, the main gear touched down, and “the nose came down like normal but kept going down with a sudden bang.” The airplane slid off the runway, came to rest in the grass, and sustained substantial damage to the forward lower fuselage. Examination of the airplane revealed that forward end of the landing gear actuator rod was fractured. The failure resulted in insufficient tension to keep the over-center down lock assembly in place.
The failure of the forward end of the landing gear actuator rod.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
Aviation Accidents App
In-Depth Access to Aviation Accident Reports
