Piper PA-24-260B N9284P

Summary

On 28 December 2006 at about 22:12 local time, a Piper PA-24-260B registered N9284P was involved in an accident near Belleville, Illinois, United States. 3 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

28 December 2006 at 22:12

Classification

Accident

Location

Belleville, Illinois, United States

Nearest airport

Scott AFB/Mid America Airport (BLV)

Coordinates

38.5528, -89.8361

Aircraft

Piper PA-24-260B

Registration

N9284P

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Monticello → Belleville

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI07LA056

Nobody was injured.

The failure of the torque link bolt which resulted in the right main landing gear strut scissors separating and becoming jammed in the wheel well. Contributing to the accident was the seized torque link bolt due to surface corrosion.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that after takeoff he selected landing gear-up, but the corresponding position light did not illuminate. He checked the landing gear motor circuit breaker and found it tripped. The pilot was unable to get the landing gear to fully extend or retract during subsequent attempts. The destination airport control tower verified that the landing gear was not fully extended during a fly-by after the pilot had attempted an emergency landing gear extension. The pilot decided to retract the landing gear as much as possible and perform a wheels-up landing in a grass area adjacent to a runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to a fuselage bulkhead during landing. Inspection of the airplane showed that the right main landing gear was partially extended with its wheel and lower strut assembly rotated in the wheelwell. The bolt that attached the upper and lower portions of the torque link assembly was sheared in half. The lower torque link was jammed against the wheelwell structure, which restricted the movement of the entire landing gear assembly. The bolt fracture features were consistent with shear overstress, as a result of torsion during the action of the torque link assembly. The bolt fracture face did not contain any evidence of fatigue cracking. The separated bolt sections were seized within the upper and lower torque links, as a result of surface corrosion.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.