Accident Description
On November 29, 2021, at approximately 1447 eastern standard time, a Piper PA-46-500TP, registration N172MA, was substantially damaged during a landing accident near Cornelia, Georgia. The airline transport pilot and two passengers sustained minor injuries. The flight was operated as a personal flight under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.
Sequence of Events
The pilot reported performing a straight-in visual approach to runway 6 at Habersham County Airport (AJR). Runway 6 is 5,500 ft long and 100 ft wide, with an asphalt surface. The pilot stated that the airplane was on a correct glidepath and at a correct airspeed of 120 knots on short final approach. The main landing gear touched down first, followed by the nose landing gear. Immediately after the nosewheel touched down, the airplane pulled to the left. The pilot initially corrected with right rudder input, but the airplane pulled left again. The pilot reapplied right rudder, and after relaxing that input, the airplane pulled aggressively to the left. The pilot set the throttle to beta, applied both brakes, and used right rudder, but the airplane departed the left side of the runway about halfway down. It traveled into a ditch and came to rest upright in a grassy area adjacent to the runway.
Investigation Findings
Runway 6 had a displaced threshold of 1,392 ft, leaving 4,108 ft of available runway. Skid marks indicated that the airplane touched down about halfway down the available runway. The skid marks consisted of nose gear tire and right main gear tire marks, but no left main gear tire mark, consistent with touchdown in a left crab angle. As the marks neared the left edge of the runway, the left main gear mark became visible, and all three tire marks were present in the grass off the left side.
Examination of the wreckage by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector and a representative from the airframe manufacturer revealed that the left wing had separated from the airframe during impact with the ditch. Steering control continuity was confirmed from the rudder pedals to the steering horn. A primary flight display (PFD), multifunction display, and a fractured section of the lower nose landing gear trunnion were retained and sent to National Transportation Safety Board laboratories for further examination.
Metallurgical examination of the nose landing gear lower trunnion showed fracture features consistent with overstress, with no evidence of fatigue.
Review of PFD data revealed that the airplane was flying about 110 knots for 25 seconds on final approach. It crossed the displaced runway threshold at about 100 knots, the 1,000-ft marker at 85 knots, and the midpoint of the available runway at about 73 knots.
According to the pilot’s operating handbook for the make and model, the published landing speed is 85 knots indicated airspeed, with a stall speed of 70 knots in the landing configuration. The wind at AJR around the time of the accident was recorded as calm.