ERA17LA054

Factual narrative

On November 16, 2016, about 1525 eastern standard time, a Rutan Defiant, N770JL, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Morristown, New Jersey. The pilot sustained no injuries. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The flight departed South Bend International Airport (SBN), South Bend, Indiana, about 1200. According to the pilot, the flight to Morristown Municipal Airport, Morristown, New Jersey, was uneventful until touchdown on runway 23, when the nose landing gear suddenly collapsed. The airplane drifted to the right and came to rest on the pavement on the right side of runway 23, just past the intersection with taxiway G. The accident airplane was a centerline thrust, twin engine, canard-equipped airplane that incorporated a rudder mounted to the bottom of the fuselage left of the nose landing gear. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the airplane incurred damage to the front propeller, the bottom of the front engine cowling, the front engine tailpipe, and the rudder. The airplane had fixed main landing gear and a retractable nose wheel landing gear. It was actuated by a single-stroke mechanism that locked of the nose landing gear in either the up or down positions. Postaccident examination of the nose landing gear system revealed that the bottom of the down lock was worn (beveled). When the nose wheel landing gear was extended, the bottom of the down lock contacted the pivot shaft around the area of the centerline and not below it. Drawings of the assembly indicated that it was supposed to extend past the centerline of the pivot shaft. According to Federal Aviation Administration and airplane maintenance records, the airplane was issued a special airworthiness certificate in 2003. The airplane's most recent conditional inspection was completed on January 16, 2016. At the time of the accident, the airplane had accumulated about 1,075.6 total hours of operation and 1,338 landings. The experimental amateur-built airplane was landing after an uneventful personal flight. While landing on a runway, the retractable nose landing gear collapsed, the rudder that was mounted on the bottom of the fuselage contacted the runway pavement, substantially damaging it. Postaccident examination of the nose landing gear system revealed that the bottom of the down lock was worn (beveled). When the nose wheel landing gear was extended, the bottom of the down lock, which hooked over a pivot shaft to lock the landing gear down, contacted the pivot shaft around the area of the centerline and did not extend past the centerline of the pivot shaft. Drawings of the assembly’s normal functions indicated that the down lock could move and unlock the landing gear when the assembly was under load. At the time of the accident, the airplane had accumulated about 1,338 landings. Given this information, it is likely that the wear to the nose landing gear down lock allowed the nose landing gear to collapse during the landing. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

• — Aircraft-Aircraft systems-Landing gear system-Gear extension and retract sys-Fatigue/wear/corrosion
• — Aircraft-Aircraft systems-Landing gear system-Gear extension and retract sys-Malfunction