Piper PA34 N8328V

Summary

On 3 December 2017 at about 20:30 local time, a Piper PA34 registered N8328V was involved in an accident near Thomasville, Georgia, 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

3 December 2017 at 20:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Thomasville, Georgia, United States

Nearest airport

Thomasville Regional (TVI)

Coordinates

30.9014, -83.8814

Aircraft

Piper PA34

Registration

N8328V

Category

Airplane

Year built

1981

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Raeford → Thomasville

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA18LA044

Nobody was injured.

A stone becoming lodged in a left main landing gear (MLG) drag link, which resulted in the failure of the left MLG to extend and lock.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

While the commercial pilot was lowering the landing gear for the approach to landing, the left main landing gear (MLG) did not indicate down and locked. The pilot cycled the landing gear three times and then used the manual landing gear extension procedure, but the gear did not extend. After airport personnel reported that all three landing gear appeared to be down, the pilot continued the approach for a full-stop landing. After touchdown, the left MLG collapsed. The airplane turned 90° to the left and then came to a stop in the grass adjacent to the runway. The left wing sustained substantial damage. Postaccident examination of the left MLG revealed that it remained partially retracted in the gear well. The other landing gear were down and locked. After the airplane was raised with a backhoe and the left MLG was manually pulled down, the down-lock hooks would not engage, and the drag links would not allow full extension. When a mechanic ran his finger through the drag link mating surfaces, a small stone fell out. Once the stone was removed, the left MLG extended and locked normally. It is likely that the stone had become lodged in the left MLG drag link and prevented the left MLG from locking.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.