Plane Crash List

Socata TBM 700 N850ZM

7 September 2012 · Horseshoe Bay, Texas, United States · No injuries

Summary

On 7 September 2012 at about 20:00 local time, a Socata TBM 700 registered N850ZM, operated by Randell D. Vinson, was involved in an accident near Horseshoe Bay, Texas, 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.

The record

Date
at 20:00
Classification
Accident
Location
Horseshoe Bay, Texas, United States
Nearest airport
Horseshoe Bay Resort Airport (DZB)
Coordinates
31.6272, -98.3586
Aircraft
Socata TBM 700
Registration
N850ZM
Category
Airplane
Engines
1
Operator
Randell D. Vinson
Operating rule
Part 91: General Aviation
Purpose of flight
Personal
Phase of flight
Not recorded
Route
Abilene → Horseshoe Bay
Aircraft damage
Substantial
Weather
VMC
Light
Day
NTSB number
CEN12LA672

People

Nobody was injured.

On board Died Serious Minor Uninjured
3 0 0 0 3

Probable cause

The off-centered right main landing gear ball joint, which resulted in the right main landing gear collapsing during landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that, after configuring the airplane for landing, the cockpit indications showed that the landing gear was down and locked. Upon landing, the right main landing gear collapsed, and the airplane subsequently veered off the runway. Postaccident examination of the landing gear revealed that the right main landing gear actuator rod end was separated from the actuator ball joint. No other anomalies were noted. Further examination of the actuator rod and ball joint revealed that the ball joint was not centered or set in its normal position. In April 2013, after several other events involving similar landing gear malfunctions, the manufacturer issued two mandatory service bulletins (SB), which outlined protocols for inspecting the pistons and rods of the landing gear actuators, inspecting the ball joint centering of the landing gear actuators, and measuring the ball joint mismatches. In March 2014, the Federal Aviation Administration issued an airworthiness directive, which required compliance with the manufacturer's SBs and the repair or replacement of affected parts.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.

Other Socata TBM-700 accidents

Date Aircraft Location Operator Outcome Died
10 Feb 2012 Socata TBM 700
N850LM
Madison, Wisconsin, United States - Minor injuries -
9 Nov 2011 Socata TBM 700
N228CX
Lyon, France - Fatal 1
19 Nov 2013 Socata TBM 700
N115KC
Mouffy, France Fabry Air Corp Trustee Fatal 6
12 Oct 2011 Socata TBM 700
N37SV
Hollywood, Florida, United States SOCATA North America, Inc. Minor injuries -
20 Dec 2011 Socata TBM 700
N731CA
Morristown, New Jersey, United States Jeffery F. Buckalew Fatal 5
8 Aug 2013 Socata TBM-700
N850GC
Vertaizon, France - Fatal 3

All 49 records for this type

Other accidents in this area

Date Aircraft Location Operator Outcome Died
19 Sep 2012 Hiller UH-12B
N94735
Rio Vista, Texas, United States - No injuries -
17 May 2012 Short Bros SHORTS SD3-60
N617FB
Houston, Texas, United States ACC Integrated Services Inc No injuries -
17 Aug 2012 Schleicher ASG29-15M
F-CIFB
Uvalde, Texas, United States Louis Bouderlique Minor injuries -
21 Feb 2012 Cessna 180H
N3SM
Conroe, Texas, United States - No injuries -
24 Feb 2012 Beechcraft 58
N99EZ
Cypress, Texas, United States - Serious injuries -
22 Sep 2012 Piper PA-28R-180
N4567J
Roanoke, Texas, United States - Fatal 2

All 170,864 records in United States