N7927R

On July 17, 2007, approximately 1445 mountain daylight time, a Beech E-33C, N7927R, experienced a collapse of the nose gear during the landing roll at Laurel Municipal Airport, Laurel, Montana. The Certified Flight Instructor and his student where not injured, but the airplane, which is owned by Rocky Mountain College, sustained substantial damage. The local 14 CFR Part 91 instructional flight, which departed the same airport about 20 minutes earlier, was being operated in visual meteorological conditions. No flight plan had been filed, and there was no report of an ELT activation.

According to the instructor and the student, the touchdown was uneventful, but during the landing roll the nose gear collapsed. A post-accident inspection of the gear system revealed that the nose gear retract brace (drag-link) had failed. The fracture surface of the brace was analyzed by the NTSB Materials Laboratory, and it was determined that it had failed in a manner consistent with a twisting overload. No preexisting damage or indication of fatigue was found. The reason for the twisting overload failure could not be determined.

The failure of the brace resulted in structural damage to the area around the nose gear wheel well.