Accident Overview
On December 24, 2010, at 1558 eastern standard time, a Beech F35 (registration N3448B) experienced a hard landing at Syracuse Hancock International Airport (SYR), New York. The pilot was not injured, and the airplane incurred substantial damage. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and an instrument flight rules flight plan was filed for the local flight. The airplane was owned and operated by an individual under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight.
Sequence of Events
The pilot arrived at the airport about two hours prior to the accident. When the fixed base operator's attendant attempted to pull the airplane from the hangar, the nose wheel strut was found collapsed. The pilot attributed this to cold weather and the fact that he had not flown in five weeks. The strut had been rebuilt about eight years earlier and had not collapsed before, requiring only occasional nitrogen servicing. The pilot left the FBO to run errands, and upon return, a mechanic had serviced the strut. The airplane was topped off with fuel.
The pilot planned to perform instrument work. The first landing was a touch-and-go during an instrument landing system (ILS) approach to runway 28, configured with gear down, partial flaps, and 14 manifold pressure, arriving over the field at about 65 mph. He executed the published missed approach, retracting gear and flaps. After one revolution in the hold pattern, he observed a trace of ice on the windshield. He requested and received the area navigation (RNAV) ILS to runway 28, which was uneventful until landing. He centered the airplane over the runway in the same configuration as the previous landing. The main landing gear touched down first; immediately after, the nose gear went down, and the airplane veered left at a 45-degree angle into the snow, stopping just before a directional sign. The right and left wings incurred substantial damage, the nose gear separated, and one of the two propeller blades separated from the hub. The pilot initially stated the nose gear malfunctioned; later, he thought icing possibly caused the airplane to stall.
A Syracuse Police Department representative reported that upon responding at the eastern end of runway 10-28, he observed a small single-engine airplane nose-down in the snow on the southern side of the runway. A section of the propeller was contacting the runway, and a section of the nose landing gear was about 50 feet from the damaged airplane. The pilot later removed the gear section from the runway and relocated it to the snow area. The pilot told the representative the accident occurred when he landed from the eastern end of runway 10-28 at about 60 mph; after the landing roll began, the front landing gear broke off, causing the airplane to skid off the runway. Skid marks started about 300 feet from the beginning of runway 28 and led off the runway.
Aircraft Information
The Beech F35 is a four-place, all-metal, low-wing, V-tail, single-engine airplane with retractable landing gear. The accident airplane, serial number D-4232, was manufactured in 1956 and issued a standard airworthiness certificate in the utility category. It was powered by a Continental E-225, 225-horsepower engine with a two-bladed variable-pitch propeller. The airplane was not certified for flight in known icing conditions.
Pilot Information
The pilot, seated in the left seat, held a private pilot certificate with ratings for airplane single-engine land and instrument airplane. He was issued a third-class FAA medical certificate on November 22, 2010, with a limitation requiring corrective lenses. A review of the pilot's flight logbook showed his last flight was 48 days prior to the accident, with a total flight time of 1,059 hours.
Weather and Runway
The METAR report for SYR at 1554 indicated winds from 320 degrees at 6 knots, visibility 10 statute miles, overcast ceiling at 1,900 feet msl, temperature minus 3 degrees Celsius, dew point minus 7 degrees Celsius, and altimeter 30.09 inches of mercury. Runway 10-28 at SYR is asphalt and grooved, 9,003 feet long by 150 feet wide.
During vectors to the RNAV approach for runway 28, the SYR controller attempted to deviate the pilot's flight levels and advised of reported icing conditions. The pilot requested to remain at those levels.
Post-Accident Inspection
The responding FAA inspector confirmed ice buildup on the leading edge of the airplane's wings. The nose landing gear chrome piston strut section separated in an aft direction, in overload, just below the piston strut housing.