Accident
On January 2, 2013, at about 1515 Pacific standard time, a Piper PA-60-602P, registration N3AG, veered off the runway during landing at North Las Vegas, Nevada. The pilot/owner was operating the airplane under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The private pilot receiving instruction and the flight instructor were not injured; the airplane sustained substantial damage from a post-crash fire.
The local instructional flight had departed North Las Vegas about 1430. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed. After departure, the pilot remained in the traffic pattern and completed three full-stop landings without incident—one on runway 12R and two on runway 12L. As prearranged with the flight instructor prior to departure, the fourth takeoff included a simulated left engine failure about 600 feet above ground level. The pilot followed emergency procedures, used the checklist, and prepared to land.
On final approach, about 50-100 feet above ground level, the pilot felt the airplane was too high and elected to initiate a go-around. The propeller and mixture controls were already full forward. Moving the throttle levers full forward did not result in increased power from either engine. The flight instructor pushed the nose down. The airplane shuddered about 15 feet above ground level but did not stall. The pilot pulled the nose back before touchdown and landed on the main landing gear. He reported that the touchdown was not hard and felt normal. Immediately after touchdown, the right wing dropped as if the right main landing gear had collapsed, and the airplane veered off the runway into a ditch in the infield.
Investigation
A post-crash fire occurred. The pilot shut down all power and the fuel mixture. It took three vigorous attempts to open the upper clamshell door before the pilot and flight instructor could exit. Within moments of their egress, the airplane caught fire.
An airframe and powerplant mechanic working on the airport ramp heard the airplane coming in for landing and noted that the engine sounds were increasing and decreasing. He observed the airplane porpoising and coming in fast. He believed the airplane landed hard, and that the right main landing gear and nose landing gear collapsed on touchdown. The airplane caught fire within 40 to 50 feet after touchdown, started sliding, and then exited the runway surface.
The axle of the right main landing gear strut, with the lower link still bolted to it, was sent to the National Transportation Safety Board Office of Research and Engineering Materials Laboratory for examination. A fractured piece of the piston was contained in the axle, and a portion of a fractured bolt was contained at the lower link connection to the upper link. Examination of the piston's fracture face revealed that it was oriented diagonally to the strut center line and displayed a grainy surface with shear lips, consistent with a bending overload event. The fracture face on the lower link-to-upper link attachment bolt displayed grainy surfaces in a cup-and-cone formation with a distinct shear lip oriented in one direction, also consistent with a bending overload event.
Due to the postaccident fire damage, examination of the engines failed to reveal the reason why they did not respond to power input.