On Tuesday 12 November 2002, at 2338, ZK-FMW, a Piper PA34-200T Seneca II, was returning to Ardmore Aerodrome with the pilot and 3 passengers on board. While landing on the lighted runway, the aircraft’s undercarriage began to collapse. The aircraft scraped along the runway for a short distance before veering off the side of the runway and on to grass. The occupants were unhurt and vacated the aircraft unassisted. The aircraft was substantially damaged.
The cause of the undercarriage collapse was not conclusively determined, but might have been because either a transient electrical fault or play in the undercarriage assembly allowed the nose leg to move and release the downlock.
The manufacturer was aware of only one other similar incident where there was an unexplained collapse of the undercarriage. Due to the isolated nature of this incident and a lack of a confirmed cause, no new safety issue was identified
