A "FATIGUE crack" has been uncovered as the cause of the wheels-up landing at Williamtown earlier this year, according to a report released from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB).
The "belly-landing" by Queensland pilot Peter Schott on May 13 captivated the nation. The Beechcraft King Air B200's landing gear had failed and the aircraft, with two passengers onboard, had to circle for hours to use up fuel before making a wheels-up landing.
The pilot managed to safely bring the plane onto the tarmac, skidding along the wet ground and coming to a stop in front of waiting emergency service crews.
Mr Schott and his passengers, Michael Reynolds and his wife, were travelling to Lord Howe Island on the chartered flight. All managed to walk away unscathed.
On May 29 an official investigation was launched and the findings have now been released.
Investigators discovered the King Air's nose landing gear had become "jammed during retraction after take-off when a fatigue crack in the steering link fractured, necessitating a wheels-up landing".
The report said as the pilot retracted the landing gear during the initial climb, mechanical crunching noises were heard, and the pilot saw that the red indicator lights on the landing gear control handle remained illuminated. An air traffic controller was able to visually confirm the nose landing gear was only partially retracted and that is when Mr Schott started the process of alerting air traffic control.
"Unable to extend the gear following emergency extension procedures the pilot held for approximately four hours to burn fuel, before conducting a wheels-up landing at Williamtown with emergency services standing by," ATSB Director Transport Safety Stuart Macleod said.
"Detailed examination of the steering link at the ATSB's technical facilities in Canberra, including with the use of a scanning electron microscope, identified a pre-existing fatigue crack.
"When the steering link fractured, either during take-off or the gear retraction sequence, the nose wheel was able to rotate beyond its normal operational limits, and a significant left rotation led the nose gear shimmy damper to become jammed against a door hinge within the nose wheel well."
According to the findings the aircraft manufacturer advised the ATSB that it was not aware of other instances of this specific malfunction and the ATSB database did not have any record of a similar incident involving the aircraft.
"Nonetheless, King Air B200 operators and maintainers should be aware that while scheduled maintenance inspections require general inspection of the nose wheel steering parts, they do not call for a detailed inspection for cracks - such as the one which precipitated this failure," Mr Macleod said.
The incident highlighted the fact that maintenance routines for the King Air B200 include only a general inspection of the nose wheel steering parts.
As a result, plane owner Eastern Air Services reported that in the days following the incident, it conducted a maintenance inspection of the landing gear system on the other King Air B200 aircraft within its fleet. In August, the business also underwent a scheduled maintenance check, during which the nose gear steering link was removed from the planes for an additional inspection using dye-penetrant technology. No defects were found.
Investigators credited the final safe landing to the pilot's actions.
"The pilot managed fuel considerations to reduce the risk of fire, engaged company personnel and air traffic control for assistance, liaised with emergency services and prepared the passengers for the wheels-up landing, minimising the risk of injury and ensuring the evacuation was conducted safely."
The in-air drama captivated Hunter residents as the aircraft spent more than 90 minutes circling Newcastle Airport, and flying north towards Hawks Nest, as it burned through its fuel load.
More than 20,000 people were watching with bated breath on Radar24 online and a crowd had gathered near the runway in the moments before the plane descended to the tarmac at Newcastle.
"Everybody was there, and it ended really well," Superintendent Wayne Humphrey said on the day of the incident.
