Piaggio P180 N128SL

Summary

On 20 March 2007 at about 14:36 local time, a Piaggio P180 registered N128SL was involved in an accident near Fort Lauderdale, Florida, 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

20 March 2007 at 14:36

Classification

Accident

Location

Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Hollywood International (FLL)

Coordinates

26.0725, -80.1528

Aircraft

Piaggio P180

Registration

N128SL

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Positioning

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Teterboro → Fort Lauderdale

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DEN07LA077

Nobody was injured.

The first officer's loss of directional control during landing causing the left main gear to collapse. Contributing factors in this accident were the flight crew's excessive use of brakes causing the left main tire to blow out, and the captain's inadequate supervision of the first officer.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The first officer was flying the airplane and was being radar vectored for an ILS (instrument landing system) approach to runway 09L. The flight was subsequently cleared for a visual approach to runway 09R. The airplane was 3 miles from the runway when the crew was informed that the wind was from 020 degrees at 7 knots. The CVR recorded crew confusion as to which runway or taxiway they were tracking towards. Both pilots thought that they had been aligned with a taxiway, not the runway. The tower instructed the flight to make a 360-degree turn. The captain took control of the airplane and subsequently the flight was cleared to join the right downwind leg for runway 09R. The captain then returned aircraft control to the first officer and continually cautioned him about excessive speed and altitude. The first officer said his speed was 120 KIAS. The last radar contact showed the airplane's ground speed at 138 knots.The captain said the airplane touched down on centerline and reverse thrust was selected. The airplane then began drifting or "pulling" to the left. The first officer attempted to correct with right rudder and then right brake. As the airplane decelerated to 60 knots, the captain engaged nose wheel steering and tried to help the first officer. The left wing then dropped and the airplane veered to the right. The captain thought they had "blown a tire." The left main landing gear collapsed and the airplane slid to a halt. The crew then evacuated the airplane. FAA inspectors and Piaggio representatives inspected the airplane and found the left main tire had blown out and separated from its rim, and fuel was leaking from the airplane onto the runway. The tire had a flat spot in the tread, with scuffing in an inboard-to-outboard direction. The left main landing gear retract actuator was fractured on the upper pivot pin. In the lower pivot area, the main gear "drag brace" was forced out of the mounting structure and bushing assembly. It was their opinion that only a strong impact with abnormal side load would cause the pivot actuator area to fail,inducing excessive bending loads on the main landing gear drag brace. This load condition could cause the tire to blow out. The crew later reported an abnormally large number of blown tires, and that the company had attributed these blowouts to "pilot error."

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.