Piper PA-32R-301T N8197W

Summary

On 19 May 2013 at about 19:45 local time, a Piper PA-32R-301T registered N8197W, operated by Huish Dale A, was involved in an accident near Chandler, Arizona, United States. 4 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

19 May 2013 at 19:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Chandler, Arizona, United States

Nearest airport

Stellar Airpark (P19)

Coordinates

33.2689, -111.8111

Aircraft

Piper PA-32R-301T

Registration

N8197W

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Huish Dale A

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

San Diego → Mesa

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR13LA237

Nobody was injured.

The failure of the alternator and/or battery, which prevented the operation of the landing gear extension system and resulted in the nose landing gear collapsing during the landing roll.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that, about 1 hour 10 minutes into the flight, the airplane began experiencing alternator and battery problems. The radios were inoperative because there was no electrical power, so he diverted from an airport with an air traffic control tower to an airport without one. He selected the landing gear lever to extend the gear normally. He also operated the emergency landing gear extension system. During the landing roll, the nose landing gear (NLG) collapsed, the airplane departed the runway, and the right wing leading edge and aileron sustained substantial damage. During a postaccident examination of the airplane, a check of the alternator found no field and no output voltage. The battery was charged to 12 volts, and it subsequently discharged to 10 volts with no load over 1 hour. The airplane was equipped with a retractable tricycle landing gear, which was hydraulically operated by an electrically powered reversible pump; the loss of electrical power prevented the hydraulic pump from actuating, which prevented the landing gear from extending normally. However, operation of the emergency extension system allowed the landing gear to free-fall, and two springs were provided to assist the NLG to the down position. During postaccident testing with battery power, the landing gear operated normally during both normal operation and emergency extension; the failure of the NLG to lock could not be duplicated. The landing gear positions were indicated by three green lights located above the selector lever for the gear down-and-locked position. However, these lights would not have been operable due to the total electrical failure, and, therefore, the pilot had no means to verify that all three landing gear were not down and locked before touchdown.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.