Narrative:

Upon approaching the clemson oconee county airport on a flight from myrtle beach, sc, unicom advised that runway 7 was favored. I entered a left downwind for runway 7, announced my position to clemson traffic, and upon turning on left base, I thought I heard a radio transmission say, 'jumpers away at clemson.' I tried unsuccessfully to contact the aircraft that transmitted this message to determine the altitude of the jump to see if there was sufficient time for me to complete my landing. Still looking, but not seeing any skydivers, I proceeded with the approach. Upon turning final, I announced my position again. By this time, I was well on final and beginning to flare out when I spotted some of the skydivers above me. Suddenly, amidst the distraction concerning the skydivers, I realized that my landing gear was not down and tried to get it down before touchdown. I did not know where other jumpers might be and in fear of hitting someone on a go around, I felt it would be best to try to get the plane on the ground. A spectator later told me that the main gear was only partially down when it touched the runway. I heard metal momentarily scrape the runway and went around anyway. During go around, the warning lights on the landing gear all signalled 'down and locked,' and I proceeded to land. All went well on the landing and rollout. Upon turning off the runway onto the taxi strip, the left landing gear collapsed. The outer 3 ft of the left wing received minor damage. The propeller and other landing gears were not damaged. There were no personal physical injuries. The left wing was lifted up by a group of bystanders, the left main gear manually extended and locked, and the aircraft rolled to the parking ramp to await necessary repairs. When obtaining a WX briefing and filing an IFR flight plan prior to departure, no mention was made of skydiving at the clemson airport. In hindsight, due to the uncertainty of the skydiving activity when hearing, 'jumpers away,' I should have cleared the area of the airport until determining the exact status of any jumping operations.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: SMA GEAR COLLAPSES AFTER SECOND LNDG ATTEMPT AS FIRST WAS ABORTED IN A GAR AFTER CONCERN AS TO ACFT GEAR STATUS ON LNDG PROC. ACFT DAMAGED.

Narrative: UPON APCHING THE CLEMSON OCONEE COUNTY ARPT ON A FLT FROM MYRTLE BEACH, SC, UNICOM ADVISED THAT RWY 7 WAS FAVORED. I ENTERED A L DOWNWIND FOR RWY 7, ANNOUNCED MY POS TO CLEMSON TFC, AND UPON TURNING ON L BASE, I THOUGHT I HEARD A RADIO XMISSION SAY, 'JUMPERS AWAY AT CLEMSON.' I TRIED UNSUCCESSFULLY TO CONTACT THE ACFT THAT XMITTED THIS MESSAGE TO DETERMINE THE ALT OF THE JUMP TO SEE IF THERE WAS SUFFICIENT TIME FOR ME TO COMPLETE MY LNDG. STILL LOOKING, BUT NOT SEEING ANY SKYDIVERS, I PROCEEDED WITH THE APCH. UPON TURNING FINAL, I ANNOUNCED MY POS AGAIN. BY THIS TIME, I WAS WELL ON FINAL AND BEGINNING TO FLARE OUT WHEN I SPOTTED SOME OF THE SKYDIVERS ABOVE ME. SUDDENLY, AMIDST THE DISTR CONCERNING THE SKYDIVERS, I REALIZED THAT MY LNDG GEAR WAS NOT DOWN AND TRIED TO GET IT DOWN BEFORE TOUCHDOWN. I DID NOT KNOW WHERE OTHER JUMPERS MIGHT BE AND IN FEAR OF HITTING SOMEONE ON A GAR, I FELT IT WOULD BE BEST TO TRY TO GET THE PLANE ON THE GND. A SPECTATOR LATER TOLD ME THAT THE MAIN GEAR WAS ONLY PARTIALLY DOWN WHEN IT TOUCHED THE RWY. I HEARD METAL MOMENTARILY SCRAPE THE RWY AND WENT AROUND ANYWAY. DURING GAR, THE WARNING LIGHTS ON THE LNDG GEAR ALL SIGNALLED 'DOWN AND LOCKED,' AND I PROCEEDED TO LAND. ALL WENT WELL ON THE LNDG AND ROLLOUT. UPON TURNING OFF THE RWY ONTO THE TAXI STRIP, THE L LNDG GEAR COLLAPSED. THE OUTER 3 FT OF THE L WING RECEIVED MINOR DAMAGE. THE PROP AND OTHER LNDG GEARS WERE NOT DAMAGED. THERE WERE NO PERSONAL PHYSICAL INJURIES. THE L WING WAS LIFTED UP BY A GROUP OF BYSTANDERS, THE L MAIN GEAR MANUALLY EXTENDED AND LOCKED, AND THE ACFT ROLLED TO THE PARKING RAMP TO AWAIT NECESSARY REPAIRS. WHEN OBTAINING A WX BRIEFING AND FILING AN IFR FLT PLAN PRIOR TO DEP, NO MENTION WAS MADE OF SKYDIVING AT THE CLEMSON ARPT. IN HINDSIGHT, DUE TO THE UNCERTAINTY OF THE SKYDIVING ACTIVITY WHEN HEARING, 'JUMPERS AWAY,' I SHOULD HAVE CLRED THE AREA OF THE ARPT UNTIL DETERMINING THE EXACT STATUS OF ANY JUMPING OPS.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.