Accident Cessna 177RG ZS-MRD, Tuesday 16 February 2010

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Date:	Tuesday 16 February 2010
Time:
Type:	Cessna 177RG
Owner/operator:
Registration:	ZS-MRD
MSN:	177RG1228
Year of manufacture:	1977
Fatalities:	Fatalities: / Occupants:
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:
Category:	Accident
Location:	Runway 06R at Lanseria Aerodrome (FALA) - South Africa
Phase:	Unknown
Nature:	Unknown
Departure airport:	Lanseria Aerodrome (FALA)
Destination airport:	Heidelberg Aerodrome (FAHG)
Investigating agency:	CAA S.A.
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:
The pilot was engaged in a private flight from Lanseria aerodrome to Heidelberg aerodrome. During the approach for landing at Heidelberg, the undercarriage failed to extend. The pilot decided to fly back to Lanseria where he performed a wheels-up landing on runway 06 Right. The aircraft skidded for approximately 100 m before coming to a halt. The propeller tips, lower fuselage antenna and sheet metal on the belly were damaged. A retraction test was carried out at an approved aircraft maintenance organisation (AMO) in the presence of the investigator in charge. It was found that the eye-end rod had broken off from the main gear actuator, and as a result the wheels had failed to extend. Probable Cause Pilots failure to manually extend landing gears following the main system failure.

Accident investigation: