NTSB Factual Report

On May 21, 2018, about 1310 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 421C, N427JM, was substantially damaged during landing, following a nose landing gear collapse at Kaolin Field Airport, (OKZ) Sandersville, Georgia. The commercial pilot was not injured. The airplane was operated by MABB Transport, LLC as a personal flight and was conducted under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and an instrument flight rules flight plan was filed for the flight that departed West Georgia Regional Airport (CTJ), Carrollton, Georgia at 1220.

The pilot reported that the flight from CTJ was uneventful and during the approach to runway 13 at OKZ, he put the landing gear handle in the down position and received three green landing gear lights indicating the gear was down and locked. After touchdown on the main landing gear, and when the nose was settling down onto the runway, he "didn't feel any resistance from the nosewheel." The airplane continued to settle, and the nose struck the runway. The pilot maintained centerline directional control and attempted to maneuver the airplane off the runway onto a taxiway with differential braking as it skidded to a stop. After the airplane stopped, the landing gear indication was still indicating three green.

A witness observed the accident from a hangar at OKZ. He reported that the airplane looked "normal" on final approach, and he heard the main landing gear touch down, followed by "something dragging." The witness further reported that when the airplane was being moved from the runway, attempts were made to get the nose gear into the down and locked position, but it would not lock.

The seven passenger, low wing airplane, was manufactured in 1976 and was equipped with two Continental, GTISO-520L, 375-horsepower reciprocating engines; it had accrued 4,437 hours total time as of the last annual inspection on July 11, 2017.

The pilot held a commercial pilot certificate, with ratings for airplane single-engine land, airplane multiengine land, and instrument airplane. His most recent Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) second class medical certificate was issued on May 18, 2018. He reported 22,697 total hours of flight experience, of which 948 hours were in the accident airplane make and model.

An FAA maintenance inspector conducted a post-accident examination of the airplane. The examination revealed all of the propeller blade tips were curled, the nose and bottom of the fuselage were scraped down to the ribs, and there was buckling of the airframe on either side of the nose gear well.

The nose landing gear was retained for further examination.