N745EP

On September 26, 2022, about 0900 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 414 airplane, N745EP, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident at Augusta Regional Airport at Bush Field (AGS), Augusta, Georgia. The private pilot and passenger were not injured. The airplane was operated by the pilot as a personal flight conducted under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.

The pilot reported that during a visual approach to runway 35, while crossing over the runway numbers, he received a landing gear unsafe warning horn alert. He also observed a flickering nose landing gear (NLG) down light indication. He performed a go-around and, while in the traffic pattern, he cycled the landing gear up and down with the landing gear switch. The NLG light continued to flicker on and off, and the main landing gear lights were steady green, indicating they were down and locked. The pilot reported that the tower controller advised that the landing gear appeared to be down, so he continued in the traffic pattern for landing. Upon touchdown the NLG collapsed, and the airplane skidded to a stop on runway 35. The forward fuselage area sustained substantial damage.

An examination of the landing gear system found that the NLG adjusting bell crank and actuator rod were connected. The NLG actuator rod was disconnected from the adjusting bell crank to facilitate recovery of the airplane. The NLG locked into place when moved into position by hand and three green lights were observed in the cockpit. There were no anomalies discovered with any linkages, bell cranks, or actuator arms, that would have resulted in the partial extension of the NLG. The landing gear system could not be otherwise functionally tested due to the airframe damage that prevented normal main and nose landing gear movement.

The manual landing gear extension crank in the cockpit was found in an intermediate position, neither fully stowed nor extended. The crank was found to catch on the pilot seat when it was attempted to be stowed; however, the crank was able to be stowed when it was rotated approximately 1/4 turn.

According to the Airplane Flight Manual, the landing gear emergency extension procedure stated in part: “Hand Crank – Push Button and Stow.” According to the Cessna 414 service manual, information was provided on troubleshooting the landing gear system when all three landing gear were not observed to be down and locked. Several possible issues were listed with corrective actions. The first item listed was, “manual extension crank improperly stowed” with a corrective action being “stow crank properly.”