What happened
Upon touching down on the runway, a Piper Malibu Meridian began to veer toward the right. The pilot attempted to use rudder control inputs to correct the direction, but these efforts were ineffective, and the aircraft continued off the right side of the runway.
As the airplane moved toward hangars and bystanders, the pilot elected to abort the landing. To regain control, the pilot applied full power, which caused the airplane to begin turning back toward the runway. During this maneuver, the left wing of the aircraft dragged along an embankment. The plane continued onto the departure end of the runway, where it struck a runway end identifier light.
The aircraft then crossed a road and struck a fence and small trees. As it traveled over uneven terrain, the landing gear collapsed before the aircraft finally came to a stop. There were no injuries reported.
The investigation
A post-accident examination of the aircraft revealed no pre-impact anomalies. In response to the pilot's report of the directional veer, the aircraft manufacturer performed extensive testing to attempt to duplicate the event. These tests included normal and crosswind takeoffs and landings, high-speed taxi tests, and taxi and landing tests using abnormal or abusive nose steering techniques.
While the manufacturer could not duplicate the rightward pull, they issued Service Bulletin No. 1106. This bulletin recommends the mandatory incorporation of modifications to the nose gear installation designed to increase the pilot's steering authority.