Pilot Debrief

PIPER PA-46-350P near Sanford, FL — 2009-08-16

Final reportERA09LA471
Sign in to save
Date
2009-08-16
Location
Sanford, FL, USA
Airport
KSFB
Aircraft
PIPER PA-46-350P
Registration
N548C
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
None
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Landing

Probable cause

The fatigue cracking at the point the nose landing gear actuator attaches to the mount resulting in separation of the actuator and partial collapse of the nose landing gear. Contributing to the accident was the lack of specific inspection guidance for scheduled maintenance to find and/or identify fatigue cracking in the welded actuator attach points of the newly designed mounts.

NTSB narrative

During landing, as the nose landing gear wheel made contact with the runway, the airplane veered suddenly to the left and exited the runway, incurring substantial damage, before coming to a stop in the adjacent grass area. Examination of the airplane’s nose gear assembly revealed the separation of the nose gear actuator attachment weld tube area (foot) of the motor mount. The metallurgical examination of fractured surface revealed fatigue crack emanating from multiple origins at the exterior of the joint where the attachment foot was welded to the support tube. The motor mount was a new design from the manufacturer which was to eliminate the concerns of fatigue separation of the weld in the foot area which was a problem with the old design motor mounts. The airplane had an annual inspection 36 flight hours prior to the accident. The new design motor mount does not have any specific inspection guidance during scheduled maintenance for identifying fatigue cracking in the actuator attach points. The old design motor mounts had detailed inspection instructions to detect fatigue cracking in the welds of the foot areas.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Mechanical failure
First missed decision gate
Inspection of the engine mount for cracks prior to the accident could have prevented failure.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • Photos
  • 16 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents16

Related mishaps