Douglas B-26B Invader, N99420: Accident occurred July 25, 2016 at Wittman Regional Airport (KOSH), Oshkosh, Winnebago County, Wisconsin

http://registry.faa.gov/N99420

NTSB Identification: CEN16LA285
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Monday, July 25, 2016 in Oshkosh, WI
Aircraft: DOUGLAS B 26B, registration: N99420
Injuries: 5 Uninjured.

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators may not have traveled in support of this investigation and used data provided by various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.

On July 25, 2016, about 1957 central daylight time, a Martin B-26A airplane, N99420, was substantially damaged following a landing with a landing gear malfunction. The pilot and four passengers were uninjured. The airplane was registered to, and operated by A-26 Invader, LLC as a 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and the flight was operated without a flight plan. The local flight originated from Wittman Regional Airport (OSH), Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and it was returning to OSH at the time of the accident.

The pilot reported he extended the landing gear while decelerating through 160 miles per hour, the maximum airspeed for gear extension. There was a loud "bang" noise as the gear extended. Two green lights illuminated for the main landing gear, but the light for the nose gear did not illuminate. The pilot observed the nose gear mechanism through the sight window in the cockpit floor and it was in an intermediate position. The pilot and the airplane owner, who occupied the front right seat, discussed the circumstances and elected to recycle the landing gear. The nose landing gear remained in an unsafe condition following multiple attempts to recycle the landing gear, so a landing was performed.

The nose landing gear collapsed during landing and the airplane nose contacted the runway during landing rollout. During examination the right nose gear door connecting rod was found broken. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the nose structure, and the nose landing gear support trunnion was found cracked.