Piper PA-28R-201 N6471C

Summary

On 22 June 1997 at about 23:00 local time, a Piper PA-28R-201 registered N6471C was involved in an accident near San Diego, California, United States. 2 people were on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

22 June 1997 at 23:00

Classification

Accident

Location

San Diego, California, United States

Nearest airport

Mongomery Field (MYF)

Coordinates

32.8000, -117.1295

Aircraft

Piper PA-28R-201

Registration

N6471C

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX97LA222

1 person had minor injuries.

the pilot-in-command's failure to maintain an adequate airspeed which resulted in a stall/mush.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

When the landing gear was selected down, only the main landing gear down indicator lights illuminated. The CFI reported that he made extensive attempts to extend the nose landing gear using both the normal and emergency procedures, however, each attempt was unsuccessful. The CFI further reported that while making his landing approach to the runway, he directed his student to turn the fuel selector to the off position. Simultaneously, the CFI moved the fuel mixture control to the idle-cutoff position as the aircraft was crossing the runway threshold. A videotape was taken by a witness to the accident sequence. Review of this tape disclosed that the aircraft made a near wings level, descending approach to the runway. At approximately 30 feet agl, the aircraft's nose oscillated up and down, followed quickly by the onset of a high vertical descent rate. At this point, the aircraft's stabilator was in what appeared to be an almost full nose up. The aircraft impacted the runway surface in a near level, slight right wing down attitude. Examination of the aircraft revealed that a nose gear down assist spring assembly had separated from an upper attach point on the strut and was tangled up in the strut support linkage, preventing the strut from free-falling to the down position.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.