Piper PA28-161, VH-BZB, Lilydale VIC, 22 December 1989

The aircraft was being used for dual circuit training. Following a normal touch down a loud bang was heard, the nose dropped and the aircraft skidded to a halt with the nosegear collapsed. The nose landing gear strut had fractured at the base of the cylinder. Microscopic examinination of the fracture surfaces found a single event overload failure by bending, with no evidence of any pre existing defects. The failure mode suggests that the nosewheel was either cocked to the left or the aircraft was yawed to the left when the nosewheel contacted the runway.