CHI05LA136 · Cessna 182TR

The airplane sustained substantial damage when the partially extended main landing gear collapsed during landing. The pilot reported that the attitude indicator failed during cruise flight about 30 minutes after departure. When he was 10 miles from the airport, he slowed the airplane to 110 kts and put in ten degrees of flaps and lowered the landing gear switch. He reported seeing a green light on the gear position indicator. The pilot reported that both the primary and secondary radios failed, the HSI failed, and that the electrically powered primary altimeter was stuck at 2,900 feet. He reported that he used his portable radio to communicate with the tower. The airplane was on short final for landing with full flaps and idle power when the control tower informed the pilot that the wheels were not down. The pilot chose to continue the landing rather that perform a go-around. The pilot reported, "I did not add power for a go around as it appeared that the full flaps setting and potentially my inability to retract the flaps might lead to my inability to climb sufficiently to do a go around. Additionally, the gear was hanging down below the plane and would have added further drag." The airplane landed on its fully extended nose wheel and partially extended main landing gear. The airplane rolled onto its right wing and horizontal stabilizer and skidded to a stop on the runway. The airplane was taken to a maintenance facility where it was put on jacks in order to check the landing gear system. When the landing gear handle was put in the up position, the landing gear retracted normally. When the gear handle was put in the down position, the landing gear extended, but did not extend to the fully down position. The landing gear hydraulic reservoir was checked for hydraulic fluid. The inspection revealed that the fluid level was below pick-up point of the electrically activated hydraulic pump; however, there was enough hydraulic fluid available in the reservoir for the emergency manual gear extension to operate. Six to eight ounces of hydraulic fluid was added to the reservoir. After the hydraulic fluid was added, the landing gear was cycled 4 to 5 times, and the landing gear retracted and fully extended normally. The emergency gear extension procedures were then performed to pump the landing gear down, and the landing gear went to the fully extended position. The inspection of the battery revealed that it was weak and required recharging.

Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset