Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Hopedale Industrial Park Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Hopedale, Massachusetts 01747
Monday, October 25, 1999 10:20 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilots stated that the landing gear was extended prior to entering the traffic pattern. The approach was normal, and the airplane settled from about 5 feet in the air, onto the runway. The main gear touched down first, followed by the nose landing gear, then the nose landing gear collapsed. The airplane skidded approximately 600 feet, and came to rest on the runway. The nose landing gear actuator separated, but there was no other damage to the nose landing gear. Examination of the actuator, by a Safety Board Metallurgist, revealed a failure consistent with overstress. According to the airplane manufacturer, the nose landing gear could not be extended and locked, if only the actuator was damaged. Either the landing gear was improperly rigged, or the gear was still in travel as the airplane landed. According to maintenance records, the rigging of the landing gear was checked during the last annual inspection, and no maintenance work was performed on the landing gear between the annual inspection and the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The nose landing gear was not locked in the extended position.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/25/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1020 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | HOPEDALE |
| Event State | MASSACHUSETTS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 01747 |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | HOPEDALE INDUSTRIAL PARK |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 1B6 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 269 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 954 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 80 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ORH |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 50 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 15 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 4 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 280 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 13 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1102 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 25 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1425 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 10 2001 10:12AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N16397 |
| NTSB Number | NYC00LA018 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-34-200 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-34-200 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 22C-492 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4200 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 8 1999 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 6 |
| Airframe Hours | 3294 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | HOPEDALE AIR SERVICES |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1 AIRPORT DRIVE |
| Aircraft Owner City | HOPEDALE |
| Aircraft Owner State | MA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 01747 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 1B6 |
| Departure City | HOPEDALE |
| Departure State | MA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 900 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 10 2001 12:26PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 36 |
| Runway Length | 3172 |
| Runway Width | 90 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |