I went to pick up a friend of mine at the Lake Havasu City Municipal Airport on Friday, October 27, 2006. He's a pilot and was flying his plane in from John Wayne Airport in Orange County, CA with his two sons (ages 5 and 9). I was parked by the D2 pilots lounge when I saw him on his approach for his landing. As he touched down the left landing gears locking pin sheared causing the wing to dip and the props touched the runway. Not knowing exactly what was happening but knowing that something didn't feel quite right; he throttled up and took to the air again for a second attempt. Realizing that he wasn't getting any lift from the damaged props, he turned the plane around and brought it back to the runway. Approaching the runway at 90 degrees, he flared the plane up and banked hard right and set the plane on the ground. The left landing gear completely collapsed this time. Keeping the plane under control the best he can, the plane skidded off the east side of the runway and into the field. The left gas tank ruptured spilling fuel everywhere. Fortunately, there was no flame. Fearing the worst, I drove over to the plane immediately. I was relieved to see my buddy and his sons climbing out onto the right wing and running a safe distance from the plane in case the fuel ignited. The LHCFD was also on seen right away. Everyone on board was checked out on the seen and was given a clean bill of health with no injuries, just shattered nerves. For my friend, he said the next hardest part was making the phone call to his wife. I'm just glad everyone is OK. After ten years of flying, I think my buddy is going to hang up his wings. This was just a little too much of a close call. Here are some pictures of the plane minutes after the crash.
http://octo.org/upload/octophotos/Misc/1027061404.jpg
http://octo.org/upload/octophotos/Misc/1027061405.jpg
http://octo.org/upload/octophotos/Misc/1027061411.jpg