History of Flight
On November 18, 2018, about 1247 eastern standard time, a Piper PA-46-350P, N88VZ, was substantially damaged during a landing accident near Petersburg, West Virginia. The private pilot and two passengers were not injured. The flight was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91 as a personal flight.
The pilot reported entering an extended right base leg for runway 13, lowering flaps to 10° and extending the landing gear. He then extended flaps to 20° and turned onto final approach, maintaining 103 knots indicated airspeed with calm wind. The landing gear position indicator lights illuminated green on final approach; the pilot did not recall if he set flaps to 36°.
Before touchdown, the yaw damper was off, rudder trim near neutral, and both rudder pedals centered. The main landing gear touched down smoothly in the landing zone, after which the pilot felt the airplane slide, as if on ice. He did not recall whether the nose landing gear was on the runway at the time. He applied right rudder and brake for directional control, but the airplane veered left. He moved the power lever into beta to slow down but could not maintain runway heading. The airplane departed the left side of the runway, struck a small berm, and the nose landing gear collapsed. It came to rest upright with the engine running. After securing the airplane, the pilot inspected the runway, finding no ice but observing "solid rubber marks on the runway showing the nose gear leaving a solid thick line of rubber."
Aircraft Information
The airplane was modified in August 2008 per STC ST00541SE with a 560 shp Pratt & Whitney PT6A-35 engine and a Hartzell HC-E4N-3N/D8292B-Z four-bladed propeller. The STC holder stated that the nose landing gear actuator, assembly, steering components (including the steering bungee), and rake angle were unchanged by the modification.
Maintenance records showed the last annual inspection was on July 11, 2018. At that inspection, the nose landing gear rake angle was adjusted to 89.9° (specification 90.0° to 090.5°), and nose gear steering free play was also adjusted. A new nose landing gear tire and tube were installed. The airplane had flown about 55 hours since the inspection. The pilot reported no engine or propeller control rigging issues after the inspection.
The nose wheel steering system operates via rudder pedal actuation at the rudder bar assembly, connected by push/pull rods to a steering bellcrank. A single push/pull rod connects the bellcrank to a bungee, then another rod to a steering arm above the nose landing gear trunnion assembly. Rudder primary control is also via rudder pedals connected by control cables.
Wreckage and Impact Information
An FAA inspector examined the runway and airplane. The airplane came to rest on airport property, partially in a ditch about 2,430 ft from the approach end of runway 13 and about 120 ft north of the runway's northern edge. The main landing gear were extended, and the nose landing gear was collapsed. All propeller blades exhibited varying bending.
Pilot-provided pictures and video showed two parallel skid marks on the runway. The first mark was left of centerline adjacent to a paving seam, paralleling the centerline for a short distance. The second mark was near the centerline farther down the runway. Both marks arched left to the northern edge, with a sharper radius left turn near the edge. Two ground scars continued on the grass north of the runway, plus a third left scar. A picture showed damage to the collar of the nose landing gear trunnion.
The airplane was transported to a repair station; repairs included removing the propeller, engine, and nose landing gear assembly. Rigging checks of engine or propeller controls were not performed, and a check of the nose gear steering rake angle could not be done due to damage. Main and nose landing gear tire pressures were not determined. No evidence of nose tire sidewall scuffing or tire/tube slippage was found. The bolt securing the nose landing gear actuator to the engine mount was fractured consistent with shear. The nose landing gear steering bungee was intact with no preimpact failure or malfunction.
According to an airframe manufacturer representative, the trunnion collar damage was associated with contact by a lug of the nose landing gear oleo caused by overtravel of the nose landing gear tire to the airplane nose-right position.