Accident Details
On July 4, 2018, at approximately 0930 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-28-180, registration N8314W, sustained substantial damage while landing at Thomaston-Upson County Airport (OPN) in Thomaston, Georgia. The student pilot, who was the sole occupant, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the local flight, which originated from Griffin-Spalding County Airport (6A2) in Griffin, Georgia, at around 0830. The flight was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91 as a personal flight.
Pilot's Account
According to the pilot, a preflight inspection revealed no anomalies. After departing 6A2, he performed one full stop landing at that airport before proceeding to OPN. While on final approach to runway 12, he configured the airplane for landing and aligned with the runway centerline. The main landing gear touched down on the runway numbers. When the nose landing gear contacted the runway, the airplane veered left. The pilot applied rudder to counteract the turn, but the airplane continued leftward. The right wingtip contacted the pavement, the propeller struck the runway, and the nose landing gear wheel separated as the airplane left the runway. The airplane came to rest approximately 75 feet off the left side of the runway in a grassy area.
Examination Findings
Post-accident examination by an FAA inspector revealed substantial damage to an engine mount, and minor damage to the nose landing gear and right wing. The rod attaching the nose wheel to the nose landing gear assembly remained in the nose wheel fork but was bent. A nut that secured the nose wheel onto the rod was not located, despite a search of the runway area.
Aircraft Information
The airplane was manufactured in 1965 and was purchased by the pilot in November 2017. It was powered by a Lycoming O-360-A3A, 180-horsepower engine with a Sensenich fixed-pitch propeller. According to maintenance logbooks, the most recent annual inspection was completed on November 10, 2017, at a total time of 2,599.2 hours.
Laboratory Analysis
The landing gear wheel attachment part was sent to the NTSB Materials Laboratory for examination. The part was a 3/8-inch rod threaded on both ends, with one end having a nut attached and the other showing bare threads. The threads on the bare end were deformed in a manner consistent with the nut having been pulled off.
Maintenance History
The FAA inspector noted that the nose wheel had not been removed since the annual inspection and that the airplane had accumulated over 250 landings since the last maintenance on the nose gear tire. The pilot stated that the missing nut could not be seen during a preflight inspection as it was covered by a wheel fairing.