Brand New Bonanza Nose Gear Collapse

Wing_96

Wing_96

Well-Known Member
I watched this happen on Sunday shortly after I landed. It is a brand new G1000 Bonanza with only 50 hours on it. The pilot had come in for a landing and after he touched down, he said he felt the nose falling towards the runway, so he immediately did a go-around. Another pilot in the pattern informed that the main gear retracted, but that the nose gear did not. When he finally brought it back in to land, he held the nose up as long as he could, but the nose gear eventually gave out. He got the engine stopped before the gear collapsed, but I don't know if they will do a re-build or not.
 

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At some point in an emergency I think you have to tell yourself "Hey...the insurance company owns this POS". Frankly, I would want a new motor and prop if I had a prop strike on any airplane. Besides, with just the nose gear having a problem and clearly not an accidental gear-up, I would think that some kind of malfunction that is covered by factory warranty would pay for this, as well as the motor - but I am not sure what kind of warranty new airplanes have.
 
WacoFan said:
At some point in an emergency I think you have to tell yourself "Hey...the insurance company owns this POS". Frankly, I would want a new motor and prop if I had a prop strike on any airplane. Besides, with just the nose gear having a problem and clearly not an accidental gear-up, I would think that some kind of malfunction that is covered by factory warranty would pay for this, as well as the motor - but I am not sure what kind of warranty new airplanes have.
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I dunno, I'd rather just kill the engine and not have to worry about flying blades. Not to mention the god awful sound a prop makes as it strikes pavement.
 
Murdoughnut said:
I dunno, I'd rather just kill the engine and not have to worry about flying blades. Not to mention the god awful sound a prop makes as it strikes pavement.
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You are right I think, although I am not sure that I have ever seen a situation where a prop blade flies off on a prop strike on the ground. I have seen where a prop blade comes off in mid-flight, wipes out the "n struts" on a Stearman, fails the wing panels on that side and then a crash. Actually, haven't "Seen" them, but read about the wrecks and saw pictures - this actually happened to three 450 Stearmans in relatively close order - Rolly Cole, Bill Adams, and another guy whose name escapes me.

I guess what I was meaning was pilots who will shut down the engine to soon to "save" it - mostly on twins. This guy seemed to do a really good job though.
 
I wondered about warranty coverage as well. Is there any?

It sounded bad enough with the prop stopped when it struck the runway. I can't imagine what it would have sounded like if it had been spinning at idle. At least he waited until he had landed before he shut off the engine.

I took a video with my phone, but without zoom, it is difficult to see the airplane until the very end of the video when the nose gear collapses and the tail goes up in the air, and even that looks miles away in the video. Anyone know how to use video editing software to zoom?
 
Sounds like said pilot had great situational awareness and did all he could under the circumstances.
 
I agree with the notion that the aircraft is replaceable, and the pilot is not. However, mitigating damages as much as possible by shutting down the engine/engines prior to touchdown on gear up landings is perfectly suitable. Of course, this should all be done with consideration to conditions specific to each event.
 
bLizZuE said:
I agree with the notion that the aircraft is replaceable, and the pilot is not. However, mitigating damages as much as possible by shutting down the engine/engines prior to touchdown on gear up landings is perfectly suitable. Of course, this should all be done with consideration to conditions specific to each event.
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Spoken like a true check airman.
 
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