Accident Overview
On October 9, 2013, at about 1000 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-46-350P, registration N561C, was substantially damaged during landing at the Greene County – Lewis A. Jackson Regional Airport (I19), Xenia, Ohio. The airplane was operated by a private individual under 14 CFR Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and an instrument flight plan had been filed. The flight originated from Auburn, Alabama, around 0800.
Accident Sequence
The pilot reported that upon nose wheel touchdown, the airplane pulled sharply to the left. Despite applying right brake and pulling back on the yoke, the airplane continued veering left off the runway. It traveled approximately 500 feet before the nose gear collapsed back into the wheel well, causing the nose and propeller to strike the ground. The propeller blades were bent aft, and the bottom cowling, firewall, engine mounts, and nose gear were crushed upward and bent aft.
Postaccident Examination
A postaccident examination revealed a fracture on the engine mount near the nose gear actuator attach feet. The engine mount was sent to the NTSB Materials Laboratory. Visual inspection showed that the paint around the attach feet area was only partially removed, not in accordance with Piper Mandatory Service Bulletin (SB) No. 1103D. Microscopic examination of the right foot disclosed fatigue progression in many areas, with a through-thickness fatigue crack initiating at the toe of the weld. Additional fatigue propagated along the foot tube outboard to the right edge of the foot above the forward tubes. Mechanical damage from repeated fracture face re-contact and rubbing obscured some fracturing modes. The fatigue crack was present where paint had been removed for the SB 1103D inspection.
Service Bulletin Compliance
Piper Aircraft had issued Mandatory Service Bulletin No. 1103S on February 2, 2011, addressing similar accidents on PA-46-310, PA-46-350P, and PA-46R-350T models. SB 1103D, a subsequent revision, required inspection of the engine mount actuator attach feet for cracks using fluorescent penetrant methods, with paint removal by chemical processes only. The subject airplane (serial number 4636326, manufactured 2002) had its last annual inspection on October 26, 2012, at 1,064.2 total aircraft hours. SB 1103D compliance was recorded on October 12, 2012, at 1,058 total hours (81 hours before the accident). The bulletin mandated initial inspection at 290 hours on the engine mount, then recurring every 100 hours. The inspection on October 12, 2012, was the only compliance entry in the maintenance records.