Accident Overview
On March 17, 2019, at about 0810 Pacific daylight time, a Piper PA-24 airplane, registration N5028P, was substantially damaged in a runway excursion near Reno, Nevada. The private pilot and two passengers were not injured. The flight was conducted under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight.
Landing and Excursion
The pilot extended the landing gear shortly after entering the traffic pattern and received a green indication confirming the gear was down and locked. The airplane touched down normally on the main landing gear, but when the nose landing gear contacted the runway surface, the airplane veered left. The pilot corrected, but the airplane then veered right of the runway centerline. He applied the hand brake while attempting to return to the centerline, and the airplane veered left again, departing the left runway edge. The left wing struck a runway distance remaining sign, causing the airplane to spin left. As it slid on its right side in gravel, the nose landing gear and right main landing gear collapsed before the airplane came to rest near a taxiway.
Damage
The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing and stabilator. Additionally, the engine mount, which attached to the nose landing gear, had fractured.
Maintenance History
Logbook records indicated the most recent annual inspection was completed on October 23, 2018, at a total time of 3,563 flight hours. The preceding annual inspection occurred on March 3, 2011, at 3,545 flight hours. The airplane had accumulated about 15 flight hours since the most recent inspection. That inspection included a gear retraction test and replacement of the gear warning horn, but the mechanic did not indicate if additional segments of the landing gear system were inspected.
The mechanic who recently serviced the airplane reported that his father had owned it since the 1980s. After 1991, the airplane was parked, likely outside, until 2010, when it received an annual inspection and a round-trip flight to Los Angeles, California. It was then parked outside and did not fly again until October 2018 when the accident pilot purchased it.
Engine Mount Examination
The engine mount connected both the nose landing gear and engine to the firewall. The nose landing gear was connected to the engine mount through the oleo strut housing. Most of the nose landing gear assembly was intact except for the left engine mount tubes (numbered 1, 2, 3, and 4 in the trunnion), which were fractured. According to a manufacturer representative, this engine mount supported the nose landing gear.
A visual inspection showed the nose bell crank and nosewheel steering rods were intact. The shimmy dampener displayed a slight bend but still provided resistance when actuated by hand.
Portions of the engine mount were sent to the NTSB Materials Laboratory. Each fracture surface was non-planar and rough, consistent with overstress. Moderate to heavy corrosion products were observed on the inner surfaces of each tube, and several tubes showed evidence of wall thinning from internal corrosion. The exact order of tube failure could not be determined.