Piper PA-28R-180 N4631J

Summary

On 23 July 2015 at about 20:05 local time, a Piper PA-28R-180 registered N4631J, operated by SkyEagle Aviation Academy, 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

23 July 2015 at 20:05

Classification

Accident

Location

Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Fort Lauderdale Executive (FXE)

Coordinates

26.1961, -80.1681

Aircraft

Piper PA-28R-180

Registration

N4631J

Category

Airplane

Year built

1968

Engines

1

Operator

SkyEagle Aviation Academy

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Fort Lauderdale → Fort Lauderdale

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA15LA289

Nobody was injured.

The undetected fatigue cracks in the engine and nose landing gear (NLG) strut mount assembly, which prevented the proper alignment of the NLG after it was extended and the pilots from being able to maintain directional control after touchdown.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight instructor and pilot-rated passenger were conducting an instructional flight. The flight instructor reported that, after conducting some airwork, he attempted to extend the landing gear as part of the prelanding checklist, but he did not receive a down-and-locked indication for the nose landing gear (NLG). He performed the emergency gear extension procedure twice, and, during the second attempt, the NLG moved to the down-and-locked position, but a left yaw was present, and the left rudder pedal had moved fully forward, which required an abnormal amount of right rudder input. The flight instructor performed a low pass over the runway, and company personnel informed him that the NLG appeared to be deflected left. He returned to the airport and performed a soft-field landing and secured the engine after touchdown. When the NLG contacted the runway, the airplane veered left off the runway and then came to rest upright. Postaccident examination of the engine and NLG strut mount assembly revealed fatigue fractures on both sides of the mount near the NLG pivot, which prevented the proper alignment of the NLG after it was extended and the pilots from being able to maintain directional control of the airplane after landing. The complete maintenance records were not available; therefore, the time on the engine and NLG mount assembly could not be determined. Although the available maintenance records did reveal that the engine and NLG strut mount assembly had been inspected as part of the annual inspection performed about 15 hours before the accident flight, the location of the fatigue cracks and color of the mount assembly likely would have made detecting the preexisting cracks difficult.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.