Decathlon 8KCAB
Flight Crew Multiengine; Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP); Flight Crew Flight Engineer; Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Sea
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 68; Flight Crew Total 11431; Flight Crew Type 300
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical; Ground Excursion Runway; Inflight Event / Encounter Loss Of Aircraft Control
Aircraft Aircraft Damaged; General Maintenance Action
Aircraft
After normal landing; approximately 3 seconds into ground rollout; heard a loud crack and saw left main gear depart aircraft hitting left wing strut and then left side of fuselage. [I] controlled aircraft tracking straight down paved runway slowing down. As aircraft speed slowed [it] weather vaned into wind and I departed runway to the left still in control until wingtip dipped. [I] pulled engine mixture to off prior to stopping. Existing cracks in 33 year old gear caused gear to fail; which caused incident.
Decathlon pilot reports landing gear separation from the aircraft shortly after touching down on a paved runway. As the the aircraft slows it departs the runway to the left.