A PA34-200 UPON LNDG; THE NOSE GEAR COLLAPSED; INCURRING DAMAGE TO THE NOSE GEAR; ENGS; AND PROPS. CAUSED BY FAILED ACTUATOR AND DOWNLOCK.

2005-08 · NASA ASRS report 669358

Date: 2005-08 · Aircraft: PA-34-200 Seneca I · Phase: landing

Anomalies: aircraft-equipment-problem-critical

Synopsis

A PA34-200 UPON LNDG; THE NOSE GEAR COLLAPSED; INCURRING DAMAGE TO THE NOSE GEAR; ENGS; AND PROPS. CAUSED BY FAILED ACTUATOR AND DOWNLOCK.

Narrative

UPON LNDG; THE NOSEWHEEL COLLAPSED; CAUSING DAMAGE TO THE NOSE SECTION OF THE ACFT AS WELL AS BOTH PROPS. THE LNDG WAS NOT HARD. AN AIRWORTHINESS DIRECTIVE WAS ISSUED LESS THAN 2 WKS PRIOR ADDRESSING MANY PROBS WITH THE NOSE GEAR. THE AIRWORTHINESS DIRECTIVE ADVISES THAT IT IS NOT A DESIGN ERROR; BUT A MAINT PROB. MY CONCERN IS WITH THE FAA INVESTIGATION. MY MECH ADVISED ME THAT THEY FOUND AN AIRWORTHINESS DIRECTIVE OUT OF COMPLIANCE ON THE ENG. HE SAID HIS SEARCH DID NOT SHOW IT; BUT THE FAA WENT THROUGH A MOONEY AIRWORTHINESS DIRECTIVE WITH THE SAME ENG AND FOUND IT. HERE I SIT WONDERING IF I'M GOING TO HAVE ACTION TAKEN AGAINST ME FOR FLYING AN ACFT THAT WAS NOT AIRWORTHY WHEN MY IA FAA LICENSED MECH COULDN'T EVEN FIND THIS AIRWORTHINESS DIRECTIVE. WHEN CONSEQUENCES (FAA ACTIONS) ARE NOT ALIGNED WITH REASONABLE AND LOGICAL PROCESSES THE COMMUNITY LOSES CONFIDENCE IN THE GOVERNING AUTH. I KNOW I QUESTIONED WHETHER TO RPT THIS INCIDENT AT ALL. IF I HAVE ACTION TAKEN AGAINST ME FOR AN AIRWORTHINESS DIRECTIVE ON THE ENG THAT MY MECH; WITH HIS LAST ANNUAL; CERTIFIED WAS IN COMPLIANCE AND WAS NOT EVEN A CAUSAL FACTOR IN THE INCIDENT; I WILL QUESTION THE COMPETENCE OF THIS ORGANIZATION. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: THE RPTR STATED THE CAUSE OF THE NOSE GEAR COLLAPSE WAS THE FAILURE OF THE DOWNLOCK AND THE GEAR ACTUATOR THAT WAS FOUND CRACKED. THE RPTR BLAMES THE NOSE GEAR CONDITION ON THE FBO PRACTICE OF TOWING THE AIRPLANE WITH A TUG AND MAKING SHARP TURNS. THE DAMAGE BESIDES THE NOSE GEAR COMPONENTS INCLUDE THE PROPS WHICH ARE BENT AND REQUIRE REPLACEMENT; BOTH ENGS NEED DISASSEMBLY FOR INSPECTION AND SOME SHEET METAL REPAIR. THE FAA INSPECTOR THAT BROUGHT UP THE ENG AIRWORTHINESS DIRECTIVE VIOLATION HAS NOT BEEN HEARD FROM AND THE RPTR BELIEVES IT IS SETTLED.

Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.

Loading the flight search…

Frequently asked questions

How do I search flights by aircraft type on FlightFinder?

Pick an aircraft model — Boeing 737, Airbus A320, A380, Boeing 787 Dreamliner and more — enter your origin airport, and FlightFinder shows every route that plane flies from there with live fares.

Which aircraft types can I filter by?

We support Boeing 737/747/757/767/777/787, the full Airbus A220/A319/A320/A321/A330/A340/A350/A380 family, Embraer E170/E175/E190/E195, Bombardier CRJ and Dash 8, and the ATR 42/72 turboprops.

Is FlightFinder free to use?

Search and schedules are free. Pro ($4.99/month, $39/year, or $99 one-time lifetime) unlocks the enriched flight card — on-time stats, CO₂ per passenger, amenities, live gate & weather — plus My Trips with push alerts.

Where does the route data come from?

Live schedules come from Amadeus, AeroDataBox and Travelpayouts. Observed routes (which aircraft actually flew a given city pair) are crowdsourced from adsb.lol ADS-B data under the Open Database License.