Piper PA 46-350P N1972M

Summary

On 11 April 2014 at about 21:07 local time, a Piper PA 46-350P registered N1972M, operated by General Leasing of Michigan LLC, was involved in an accident near West Chicago, Illinois, 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

11 April 2014 at 21:07

Classification

Accident

Location

West Chicago, Illinois, United States

Nearest airport

DuPage County Airport (DPA)

Coordinates

41.9089, -88.2492

Aircraft

Piper PA 46-350P

Registration

N1972M

Category

Airplane

Year built

2012

Engines

1

Operator

General Leasing of Michigan LLC

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Business

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Lapeer → West Chicago

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN14LA196

Nobody was injured.

The failure of the nose gear actuator attachment to the engine mount due to overstress, which resulted in the loss of directional control during landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The commercial pilot was conducting a business flight and was preparing to land the airplane. He reported that, during the landing approach, he lowered the landing gear, which resulted in a gear down-and-locked indication. He subsequently made a smooth landing, but as soon as the nose gear touched down, the airplane "yanked severely to the left." He attempted to maintain directional control, but the airplane exited the left side of the runway into grass, the right wing contacted an airport sign, and the landing gear collapsed. A postaccident examination revealed that the nose gear actuator attachment to the engine mount was fractured in two places. A metallurgical examination revealed that the fracture surfaces and deformation patterns were indicative of overstress separations at both locations. No preexisting cracking was noted. The investigation could not determine whether the overstress damage occurred during the accident landing or previous landings. The airplane manufacturer had previously issued a service bulletin (SB), which recommended that an initial inspection of the engine mount for cracks in the area of the nose gear actuator attachment be accomplished at 740 hours time in service (TIS). However, the airplane only had 550 hours TIS at the time of the accident; therefore, it had not undergone the initial inspection recommended by the SB. Following the accident, the manufacturer reduced the initial inspection time to 200 hours TIS and redesigned the engine mount.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.