Cessna U206, VH-RXE, Maggieville Station QLD, 17 July 1989

The pilot reported the following The right main landing gear collapsed, soon after touch down at Maggieville Station airstrip, at the completion of a two hour flight from Massacre Inlet. The aircraft had been configured for a short field landing, however, it had floated for a short distance along the airstrip before the main wheels touched down. As a result the pilot applied "full braking" as soon as the aircraft had settled on to the runway. At the same instant that the brakes were applied the right main landing gear folded backwards and collapsed. Investigation revealed that two of the three bolts which support the right main landing gear (including the main locating bolt) had sheared off, and the cast sections of both channel supports had been damaged. The pilot could find no evidence on the runway of an obstruction or pothole and has no recollection of any previous hard landings or wheel contacts, which might explain the damage. However, he did report that two of the right main wheel hub bolts, had failed and were replaced approximately one week prior to this accident. After carrying out temporary repairs, at Maggieville Station, the aircraft was flown to an approved maintenance facility in Mount Isa to have the right landing gear replaced.

The chief engineer, a Licenced Aircraft Maintenance Engineer (LAME), at the maintenance facility in Mount Isa, inspected the damaged section of the landing gear. He reported that both halves of the right main wheel hub had been damaged in a manner which indicated impact with a large object. Examination of the remainder of the landing gear supported this premise. Two of the three landing gear attaching bolts, had sheared off as a result of excessive side loads, and the remaining bolt was bent. Damage to the channel support was caused by the shearing action of the main landing gear exiting the fuselage attachment recess. The LAME stated that there was no evidence of corrosion, or any pre-existing cracks, found on any of the damaged components. The failure was totally consistent with an overload failure.

The investigation did not determine conclusively when the damage to the landing gear was sustained, but it may have been the reason the two wheel hub bolts had to be replaced the previous week.