What happened
During landing on runway 28, the Piper PA-46-350P encountered a crosswind from the left. Following touchdown, the aircraft began to yaw to the left. The pilot attempted to correct this yaw; however, the correction was reportedly too strong for the aircraft to maintain control. As the aircraft drifted to the left, it departed the runway onto the grass. Approximately twenty yards from the runway, the nose gear struck soft ground and collapsed.
There were no injuries reported in the accident. The aircraft sustained significant damage, including a broken propeller, damage to the firewall, and bending of the right wing tip and the right main landing gear.
The investigation
Mechanical examination of the aircraft confirmed the nose gear had collapsed. The nose gear trunnion was sent to the NTSB Materials Laboratory for fracture analysis. Investigators found no evidence of fatigue cracks or any pre-existing conditions on the fracture faces of the trunnion that would have led to the failure.
At the time of the accident, surface winds were reported at 200 degrees at 10 knots. According to the pilot's handbook, the demonstrated crosswind component for this aircraft type is 17 knots.