N1820LBeech A36 · 1976

According to the pilot, during the approach to land on a plowed- snow-covered runway, he selected a touchdown point near, what he had identified as, the runway threshold. On short final a pilot-rated passenger seated in the right front seat recommended adding power. The pilot assumed this was to “cushion” the landing not realizing he was landing short of the runway’s plowed surface. Subsequently, the airplane touchdown in an area of unplowed snow, impacted a snow berm, and the nosewheel collapsed. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage. The pilot reported no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions that would have precluded normal operations.

In the recommendation section of the NTSB Accident/Incident Reporting Form 6120.1, the pilot stated that the accident may have been prevented if there were clear runway threshold markings to define the runway’s plowed surface.

According to the operator, cones are normally used to identify the runway threshold; however, they had been removed due to ongoing snow removal operations on the day of the accident.

The pilot was landing the airplane on a dry, unpaved airstrip, when the left main landing gear retraction brace assembly (PN 35-815125-2) broke, and the left main landing gear collapsed. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left aileron. The pilot stated that there were no preaccident mechanical anomalies with the airplane.

Examination of the airplane's maintenance logbooks revealed no record that the brace assembly had ever been replaced during the airframe's time in service of 19,770 hours. The brace is a on-condition replacement part.