No fatalities

18 Dec 2017: Piaggio P.180 — Georgetown, TX

Georgetown, TX, United States

On 18 Dec 2017, a Piaggio P.180 was involved in an aviation accident near Georgetown, TX. No fatalities were reported. Investigators recorded the probable cause as: A hard landing caused the right main landing gear to collapse. This summary draws on records from NTSB.

SourcesNTSBPrimary reportUpdated 1778583330Data APIEditorial standards

During an RNAV GPS approach, the pilot made a hard landing causing the right main landing gear to collapse. The airplane exited the runway onto grass. No mechanical anomalies were found.

Accident

The pilot was conducting an RNAV (GPS) runway 36 approach. According to the pilot, visibility was 3 miles and wind was from 070° at 9 knots. At 50 feet above the missed approach point, the runway was sighted. The pilot reported being slightly right of the runway centerline with a right crosswind. When the right main landing gear contacted the runway, it folded under the body, and the airplane came to a stop.

Examination

A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector examined the accident site and determined that the pilot made a hard landing, which caused the right main landing gear to collapse. The airplane exited the right side of the runway onto the grass approximately 1,000 feet from the end of the runway. Further examination revealed no mechanical anomalies or malfunctions that would have resulted in the landing gear collapse.

Weather

The airport's Automated Weather Observing System (AWOS-3) reported visibility as 0.25 miles and wind from 100° at 4 knots, differing from the pilot's account.

Probable cause

A hard landing caused the right main landing gear to collapse.

Contributing factors

Causes

PilotResponse/compensation

Other contributing factors

Effect on operation