Plane Crash List

Piper PA-46-500TP N4185L

18 November 2006 · Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States · No injuries

Summary

On 18 November 2006 at about 16:00 local time, a Piper PA-46-500TP registered N4185L, operated by American Book Company, was involved in an incident near Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was slightly damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

The record

Date
at 16:00
Classification
Incident
Location
Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States
Nearest airport
Smith Field (SMD)
Coordinates
41.1433, -85.1544
Aircraft
Piper PA-46-500TP
Registration
N4185L
Category
Airplane
Engines
1
Operator
American Book Company
Operating rule
Part 91: General Aviation
Purpose of flight
Business
Phase of flight
Not recorded
Route
Bloomington → Fort Wayne
Aircraft damage
Minor
Weather
VMC
Light
Dusk
NTSB number
CHI07IA067

People

Nobody was injured.

On board Died Serious Minor Uninjured
1 0 0 0 1

Probable cause

The fatigue failure/separation of the engine mount's nose gear actuator attachment foot, and the manufacturer's inadequate engine mount/nose gear actuator attachment design.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The private pilot reported that during landing at the conclusion of a personal flight, the airplane turned abruptly to the left and went off the side of the runway. The landing gear encountered muddy terrain, and the nose landing gear collapsed. Inspection of the nose gear support structure by an NTSB materials engineer disclosed that the right nose gear attachment foot had fractured at the right engine support mount due to fatigue failure. The airframe manufacturer had an applicable service bulletin that recommended increased inspection of the failed area because of a history of cracking. The service bulletin had reportedly been complied with about 18 service hours prior to the nose gear failure, but portions of the failed component had not been completely stripped of paint as recommended to check for cracking. The existing service bulletin was superseded with another service bulletin that reduced the inspection intervals. The manufacturer has also developed a replacement part that, when installed, will end the repetitive inspection requirement of the failed component. Additionally, the old-style component is no longer available as a replacement part.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.

Other Piper PA-46 accidents

Date Aircraft Location Operator Outcome Died
16 Dec 2006 Piper PA-46-350P
N90U
Augsburg, Germany Aircraft Guaranty Title & Trust LLC No injuries -
21 Dec 2006 Piper PA-46-350P
N1AM
Concord, California, United States
no coordinates
- Fatal 4
3 Nov 2006 Piper PA-46-310P
N460TM
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15 Sep 2006 Piper PA-46-310P
XB-JVH
Toluca, Mexico
no coordinates
Unknonw Fatal 1
12 May 2006 Piper PA-46-350P
N41827
Del Norte, Colorado, United States - No injuries -
20 Jan 2006 Piper PA-46/JETPROP
N122SR
Tampa, Florida, United States - No injuries -

All 284 records for this type

Other accidents in this area

Date Aircraft Location Operator Outcome Died
6 Jun 2006 Schweizer 269C
N54LC
Schererville, Indiana, United States - Minor injuries -
6 Jun 2006 Aviat PITTS S-2B
N55H
Darmstadt, Indiana, United States - No injuries -
22 Apr 2006 Cessna 172E
N2985U
Richmond, Indiana, United States - No injuries -
27 Jun 2006 Cessna 150G
N3366J
Indianapolis, Indiana, United States - No injuries -
24 Jul 2006 Cessna 172F
N8829U
Brookville, Indiana, United States - Fatal 1
9 Apr 2006 Piper PA-28-181
N793MA
Logansport, Indiana, United States - No injuries -

All 170,864 records in United States