Piper PA-23-250 N71TA

Summary

On 2 October 2006 at about 21:05 local time, a Piper PA-23-250 registered N71TA was involved in an accident near Marshall, Minnesota, United States. 2 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

2 October 2006 at 21:05

Classification

Accident

Location

Marshall, Minnesota, United States

Nearest airport

Southwest Minnesota Regional (MML)

Coordinates

44.4506, -95.8250

Aircraft

Piper PA-23-250

Registration

N71TA

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Madison → Marshall

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI07LA002

Nobody was injured.

The failure of the nose gear to properly extend for undetermined reasons, which resulted in damage to the forward fuselage during landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane was substantially damaged during landing when the nose gear failed to properly extend. The pilot reported that during touch-and-goes at MDS the nose gear would not extend prior to landing. The pilot diverted to MML and conducted a fly-by where ground personnel reported that the nose gear tire appeared to be cocked inside the gear well. The pilot reported that several attempts to lower the nose gear were unsuccessful. The pilot landed in the grass adjacent to the runway with the main gear extended and the nose gear retracted. Post accident investigation could not duplicate the problem. Operational checks of the landing gear retraction and extension after the accident were normal.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.