Accident to the Mistubishi MU-2B-40 registered D-IKKY on 11/06/2021 at Haguenau (Bas-Rhin)

Cat. 3 investigation report: report concerning an occurrence with limited consequences, based on one or more statements not independently validated by the BEA.

This is a courtesy translation by the BEA of the Final Report on the Safety Investigation published in November 2021. 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 statements made by the pilot. This information has not been independently validated by the BEA.

1 - HISTORY OF THE FLIGHT

On 18 June 2021 at about 10:15, the pilot took off from Stuttgart airport under an IFR flight plan bound for Haguenau aerodrome in Bas-Rhin. At Karlsruhe, while cruising at 7,000 ft, he cancelled the IFR flight plan and continued under VFR.
He checked in on the Haguenau A/A frequency and deduced that he was alone in the runway circuit. He joined a long final for paved runway 21.
On contact with the runway, the pilot heard a thud. The nose gear broke during the landing run. The aeroplane slid for 400 m before coming to rest on the runway.

2 - ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
2.1 Pilot’s experience and statement

The 69-year-old pilot held a private pilot licence. On the day of the accident, he had logged about 4,350 flight hours, of which around 2,000 hours were on D-IKKY. In the previous three months he had flown 23 hours 45 minutes, 7 hours of which were on the D-IKKY.
The pilot stated that on final, he had stabilised the speed at 110 kt and extended the flaps to the second flap detent.
He explained that this aeroplane is difficult to land[1] and that it may explain his hard landing.
The pilot transmitted the insurance report which indicated that the broken pin surfaces showed slight signs of fatigue failure at the edges. The weakened pin finally broke due to the loads experienced during the landing.

2.2 Meteorological information

The Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden aerodrome METAR, 20 km east of Haguenau, recorded at 08:20 UTC (10:20 local time) gave the following: wind from 290° at 3 kt, CAVOK conditions, temperature 22 °C and a dew point of 17 °C.

2.3 Information provided by manufacturer

In the ten years prior to the D-IKKY accident, Mitsubishi had observed nose gear failures at a rate of one to two cases per year. This observation led the manufacturer to issue various Service Notifications (SN), including SN 150 in October 2019. This SN suggests complying with the Service Recommendation (SR) No. 046/32-004 of 28 February 2017 which includes the inspection, replacement and adjustment of the nose gear locking system. The various actions recommended by Mitsubishi do not specifically concern the pin whose failure was observed.

2.4 Information provided by maintenance organization

The maintenance company responsible for the continuing airworthiness of the D-IKKY sent a team of mechanics to Haguenau aerodrome to analyse the damage to the aeroplane's structure. They found that the pin between the actuator and the nose gear drag strut had broken. The nature of the failure was not specified.
The maintenance actions performed on D-IKKY included the inspection of the nose landing gear locking system on 3 September 2019, and pursuant to SR No. 046/32-004.