Serious incident to the Robin HR100 registered F-HALC on 22/01/2024 at Montpellier
Collapse of LH main landing gear during landing run
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, accompanied by a passenger, took off from Propriano airport (Corse-du-Sud) at around 11:40 bound for Montpellier-Méditerranée airport (Hérault). He declared that at their destination, he joined the circuit to land on runway 30L, carried out the various check-lists, configured the aeroplane for landing and checked that the three green lights indicating that the landing gear had extended were lit. He flared and landed normally. During the landing run, the left main landing gear collapsed. The pilot managed to stay on the runway. The aircraft came to a halt at the edge of the runway. The air traffic controller activated the siren for the occurrence of an accident.
The pilot and passenger evacuated the aeroplane. With the help of the ARFF[1], the left main landing gear was extended and the aeroplane towed to a hangar. No fault likely to explain the failure was observed
2 Additional information
2.1 Pilot information
The 59-year-old pilot held a commercial pilot licence (CPL), along with instrument (IR), multi-engine (ME) and instructor (IFI and FI) ratings.
On the day of the accident, he had logged approximately 4,700 flight hours including around 100 hours on type. In the 90 days preceding the accident, the pilot had carried out around 90 flight hours.
2.2 Aircraft information
Built in 1978, F-HALC is the Robin HR-100 version with a tricycle retractable landing gear. It is equipped with a Lycoming IO-540 engine developing 250 hp.
The landing gear retraction system is a hydraulic system. The landing gear is locked in the extended position by the mechanical locking of a hinge held by a spring and a bungee cord. An adjustable contactor is fixed to the strut of each landing gear. The contactor lights up the green landing gear light associated with the landing gear, when it is extended and locked.
2.3 Airport information
Montpellier-Méditerranée airport has two runways, a main runway 12L/30R (measuring 2,600 m x 45 m) and a secondary runway 12R/30L (measuring 1,100 m x 30 m).
2.4 Meteorological information
The 13:50 ATIS for Montpellier-Méditerranée airport indicated the following meteorological conditions at the time of the accident:
- Information I: dry runway, wind from 340°, 8 kt, visibility greater than 10 km, temperature 12°C, dew point 5°C, QNH 1031.
2.5 Additional statements
The passenger in the right seat was also a pilot and instructor. He confirmed that during the before landing check-list, the three green landing gear extended lights were lit.
2.6 Similar events
On 26 September 2018, the pilot of the HR100-250TR registered F-BXGX experienced a complete loss of electrical power. He decided to carry out a precautionary landing during which the unlocked nose gear collapsed.
On 30 May 2003, the pilot of the HR100-250TR registered F-GGGS landed with an unlocked landing gear.