Incident Summary
The pilot landed on runway 28 with a crosswind from the left. Following touchdown, the airplane yawed to the left. The pilot initiated a correction but perceived the correction as too strong for the airplane to manage. The pilot then allowed the airplane to drift left, resulting in a departure from the runway onto the grass on the left side. Approximately twenty yards from the runway, the nose gear dug into the soft grass and collapsed.
Damage and Examination
Examination of the airplane revealed that the nose gear had collapsed, the propeller was broken, and the firewall sustained damage. Additionally, the right main landing gear and the right wing tip were bent. The nose gear trunnion was sent to the NTSB Materials Laboratory for fracture analysis. Examination of the trunnion found no evidence of a fatigue crack or any other preexisting condition that could have led to the fracture.
Wind and Pilot Information
According to the pilot's handbook, the demonstrated crosswind component for the Piper PA-46-350P is 17 knots. The reported surface winds at the time of the accident were 200 degrees at 10 knots. The pilot had accumulated a total of 1300 hours in the PA-46.