N7252Y

On December 16, 2007, at 1248 mountain standard time, a Piper PA-30, N7252Y, sustained substantial damage following a landing gear collapse during landing at Bridger Municipal Airport, Bridger, Montana. The private pilot was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the local flight that departed from Laurel Municipal Airport, Laurel, Montana.

According to the pilot, he had not flown the airplane for over 90 days and this was the first flight after the annual inspection, which was completed in October of 2007. After departing Laurel, he flew toward Bridger where he practiced maneuvers. He then entered the downwind leg for runway 34, reduced the engine power, and lowered the landing gear. There was no response when he lowered the landing gear and he noticed that the landing gear circuit breaker was popped open. He reset the circuit breaker and recycled the landing gear handle to down. He confirmed the movement of the nose gear and received a green light. He continued his approach in the traffic pattern and slowed to 100 miles per hour. While on final, he noted gusty wind conditions, and that he was low. The pilot added power to arrest the sink rate. The airplane landed in a slightly nose-low attitude. The landing gear collapsed and the right propeller struck the ground and stopped, followed by the left propeller. The airplane skidded to a stop approximately 300 feet from the threshold.

The Federal Aviation Administration inspector examined the airplane and indicated that the underside of the fuselage sustained structural damage. He examined the landing gear system and found no mechanical anomalies with the system. Additionally, he reviewed the maintenance logbooks for the airplane. The airplane flew approximately 28 hours in 2006, and the last annual inspection was completed in October of 2007. During the last annual inspection, there were no mechanical anomalies noted with the landing gear system. The airplane had accrued 1.3 hours since the last annual inspection.