Accident Description
The pilot reported that the landing seemed normal for a few seconds before the airplane began to swerve to the right. Despite applying hard left brake and full left aileron, the airplane continued swerving and departed the runway. The nose gear collapsed, and the airplane slid approximately 300 feet on the main landing gear and the underside of the cowling before coming to a stop.
Examination Findings
Examination of the airplane revealed that the engine mount was fractured at the right nose gear actuator attach foot. Rust was visible on the fracture surface, indicating the crack was pre-existing. The crack was located in an area addressed by a Piper Service Bulletin, which required operators to inspect the engine mounts for cracks every 100 hours of flight time until the engine mount was replaced with a newer model featuring one-piece feet at the nose gear actuator attach points.
The engine mount installed in the airplane was the original Piper design configuration, which used a two-piece welded foot design. Review of the airplane's maintenance records indicated that the Service Bulletin had not been complied with at the most recent annual inspection, which occurred 89.1 flight hours prior to the accident.