On December 15, 2014, about 1030 central standard time, a Piper PA-46-350P airplane, N224JJ, departed the left side of the runway at the Sugar Land Regional Airport (SGR), Houston, Texas. The commercial rated pilot was not injured. The airplane was registered to operated by Dilkara Leasing LLC, Las Vegas, Nevada under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident and an instrument flight plan was filed. The airplane departed the Georgetown Municipal Airport (KGTU) Georgetown, Texas, about 0940.
The pilot reported that he crossed the runway threshold at 100 feet and 85 knots, and touched down on the runway about 80-85 knots. When the nosewheel touched the runway, the airplane veered sharply left. He applied right rudder; however, the airplane continued off the left side of the runway. The nose gear collapsed and the airplane came to rest about 150 feet from the runway.
The pilot stated that after the accident, an operations supervisor from the Fixed Based Operator (FBO) inspected the marks left on the runway. The pilot added that at the point where the nosewheel first contacted the runway, it appeared the wheel turned 90 degrees to the left.
Examination of the airplane revealed damage to the propeller, nose landing gear, lower cowling, and substantial damage to the firewall. An inspection of the engine compartment by the responding Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Inspector, revealed the engine mount had broken at the nose landing gear actuator attach point.
Piper Aircraft, Inc., issued Service Bulletin 1103 on April 22, 2002, which addressed engine mount inspections of Piper Malibu and Mirage aircraft. The Service Bulletin requires Piper Malibu operators to inspect the engine mounts for cracks at the next scheduled maintenance event, and each 100 hours' time in service, or annual inspection thereafter. When cracks are observed, the engine mount is to be replaced with a newly designed model which incorporated a one-piece foot at the nose gear actuator attach point. The latest version is Service Bulletin 1103E, and was issued on June 5, 2014.
The accident airplane was a Piper PA-46-350P, serial number 4622155, manufactured in 1994. The airplane's last annual maintenance inspection was performed on July 1, 2014, at the time of the accident, the total aircraft time was 2,024.0 hours. According to the FAA inspector, Service Bulletin 1103 had been accomplished during the annual inspections on the following dates and times: June 2011-1,795 hours, June 2012-1,849 hours, May 2013-1,900 hours. The inspector added that in July 2014 (1,993 hours) a visual inspection was performed but was not documented in ether the airframe or engine logs.