N318RF

On July 7, 2005, about 0915 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 421B, N318RF, was substantially damaged while landing at Medina Municipal Airport (1G5), Medina, Ohio. The certificated commercial pilot and three passengers were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight destined to Raleigh, North Carolina. An instrument flight rules flight plan was filed for the business flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.

The pilot stated that approximately 30 minutes after departure, the decision was made to return to 1G5 due to a high oil temperature indication on the left engine. The pilot utilized the VOR Runway 27 approach at 1G5, and extended the landing gear at the final approach fix. The pilot noted a "3 green" landing gear indication, which he confirmed again just prior to touchdown. The pilot further stated that the airplane touched down normally on runway 27, a 3,556-foot-long, 75-foot-wide, asphalt runway. Immediately after touchdown, the left wing dropped toward the ground and the airplane began to veer left. The airplane traveled off the left side of the runway, struck a ditch, and came to rest upright.

Examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector revealed that the left main landing gear had collapsed. The inspector recovered a piece of the left main landing gear upper trunnion assembly near the point of touchdown. The component was forwarded to the Safety Board's materials laboratory for further examination. That examination revealed that the fracture face exhibited evidence of overload, with no fatigue noted.

The airplane had accumulated approximately 152 hours since its last annual inspection, which was performed about 11 months prior to the accident. In addition, FAA records revealed that the left main landing gear had a prior collapse on December 29, 2003, while the airplane was being operated by a different owner. The prior event was classified as an incident, and was not investigated by the Safety Board.