Accident to the Cessna 182 registered N400NA on 07/09/24 at Pontoise
Collapse of main landing gear on landing, runway veer-off
This is a courtesy translation by the BEA of the Final Report on the Safety Investigation. As accurate as the translation may be, the original text in French is the work of reference.
Note: the following information is principally based on the pilot’s statement. This information has not been independently validated by the BEA.
1. HISTORY OF THE FLIGHT
The pilot took off from Persan - Beaumont aerodrome for a cross-country flight. Before joining the Amiens - Glisy aerodrome circuit, the pilot set the landing gear control to “DOWN”. He observed that the landing gear did not extend. He returned the control to the “UP” position.
The pilot then observed that the fuse corresponding to the landing gear had opened and he was unable to reset it. The pilot used the manual hydraulic pump to extend the landing gear but could not see the landing gear extend . The pilot realised that he had not first set the landing gear control to the “DOWN” position.
He corrected the position of the control, and used the landing gear manual pump again. Unlike the first time, he felt no resistance in the lever of the manual pump. The pilot first contacted Beauvais - Tillé control tower and then Pontoise - Cormeilles-en-Vexin control tower. The pilot decided to land at Pontoise, which was closer than Persan, as the Pontoise controller proposed the same landing assistance as at Beauvais.
As suggested by the controller, the pilot first flew over the runway at a low height. The controller informed him that the main landing gear was partially extended and that the nose gear was completely extended. The pilot landed on runway 23 . During the landing, the main landing gear collapsed, the fuselage touched the runway, the aeroplane veered off the runway and came to a stop on the RH side of it, on the adjacent grass strip.
2. INFORMATION
2.1 Meteorological information
The Pontoise - Cormeilles-en-Vexin aerodrome METAR at the time of the accident gave the following information:
• wind from 190°, 10 kt;
• visibility greater than 10 km;
• scattered clouds based at 2,300 ft and broken clouds at 2,900 and 4,400 ft;
• temperature 20°C, dew point 16°C;
• QNH 1008.
2.2 Pilot information
The 66-year-old pilot at the time of the occurrence held an aeroplane private pilot licence (PPL (A)) obtained in 2013 along with a valid SEP land rating. He also held paramotor, flex-wing and fixed-wing microlight pilot licences. He had logged around 550 flight hours including around 400 hours as pilot-in-command. He had carried out 6 flight hours in the 30 days preceding the accident on the Cessna 182.
2.3 Pilot’s supplementary statement
The pilot stated that the landing gear manual extension procedure is described in the flight manual, but that, “in the heat of the moment”, he “didn't go so far as to consult the manual”. The pilot indicated that he had not been trained in the use of the landing gear manual extension control. His maintenance workshop had told him that the electric control had to be set to “DOWN” before using the landing gear manual extension lever, but he did not initially remember this.
The maintenance workshop reported that the operation of the landing gear manual hydraulic pump with the control not in the “DOWN” position caused the pump seals to break, resulting in a hydraulic leak. The nose gear was locked by gravity, but the main landing gear could not lock without the necessary hydraulic power.
February 2025