N6078C

On September 24, 2003, at 1344 mountain daylight time, a Cessna R182, N6078C was substantially damaged when its nose gear collapsed during landing at Cedar City Municipal Airport (CDC), Cedar City, Utah. The commercial pilot, a pilot-rated passenger, and a dog on board the airplane were not injured. The personal flight was being conducted under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91 without a flight plan. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The local flight originated at 1300.

The pilot reported that when he took off and attempted to raise the landing gear, he noted that he did not hear the gear motor operate. He also noted that his main landing gear were still down, and that his nose gear was partially retracted. The pilot reported that he recycled the gear several times eventually leaving it down. The pilot said he had cockpit indications that the gear was down and locked; however, the pilot asked a crash crew at CDC to look at the gear as he flew over. The pilot reported that the crash crew informed him that all three gear were down. The pilot came in for a landing. On touching the nose wheel to the runway, the nose wheel came off. The nose gear strut dug into the runway asphalt and subsequently collapsed.

An examination of the accident site showed gouges in the runway asphalt beginning approximately 30 to 40 feet from the runway threshold. In the vicinity of the first gouge were several nose gear roller bearings and the nose gear axle through bolt. Several succeeding slashes in the asphalt, consistent with propeller strikes, were observed. The airplane's nose wheel was located in brush off the left side of the runway. The airplane's nose gear strut was broken aft at the hinges. The strut fork was scraped and ground aft. The nose gear doors and nose gear hinge stops were scraped and broken aft. The nose gear wheel well bulkheads were bent, buckled, and gouged. Both propeller blades were torsionally bent and showed chordwise scratches. Flight control continuity was confirmed. An examination of the nose gear axle through-bolt showed a vacant pinhole for a cotter pin at the end of the bolt threads. The threads showed no damage. The bolt showed normal lubricant. The end nut for the bolt was missing and not found at the accident site. An examination of the engine, engine controls and other airplane systems showed no anomalies.