Johnson County Executive Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Olathe, Kansas 66051
Tuesady, December 25, 2001 10:16 CST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane was damaged when it went off of the left side of the runway, crossed a parallel taxiway and went down an embankment during landing. The pilot stated that when he applied the brakes during the landing, "...it felt like the left brake 'grabbed' and jerked me to the left. While still on the runway I applied power and right rudder to try to straighten me out. I immediately [went] left very quickly on to the grass." Subsequent to the accident, the nose landing gear fork was found fractured in two places near the attachment to the strut portion of the landing gear. No other anomalies were found with respect to the airplane, or its systems that were determined to have existed prior to impact. The nose landing gear fork was examined by the National Transportation Safety Board's Materials Laboratory. The fork was found to have deformation consistent with excessive lateral loading. The fracture surfaces were examined and both fractures exhibited signatures consistent with overstress. No evidence of fatigue or preexisting damage was found.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during landing resulting in the overload of the nose gear fork. The overload failure of the nose landing gear fork, the embankment, and the remedial action not possible were contributing factors.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 12/25/2001
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1016
Event Time Zone Central Standard Time
Event City Olathe
Event State KANSAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 66051
Event Date Year 2001
Event Date Month 12
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport JOHNSON COUNTY EXECUTIVE
Event Location Nearest Airport ID OJC
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport 0
Airport Elevation 1096
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1053 Central Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID OJC
Elevation of weather observation facility 1096
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation CST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) -3
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -8
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 260
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 10
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.15
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 12393
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Dec 25 2001 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1233
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Nov 4 2002 9:07AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Kansas City, Kansas

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N666DE
NTSB Number CHI02LA056
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Piper
Aircraft Model PA-32-300
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 32-7540161
Certified Max Gross Weight 3600
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 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Aug 15 2001 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 42
Airframe Hours 2788
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Cherokee LLC
Aircraft Owner Street Address 12920 Metcalf
Aircraft Owner City Overland Park
Aircraft Owner State KS
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 66213
Operator is an individual? No
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? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
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) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code OJC
Departure City OLATHE
Departure State KS
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone CST
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code OJC
Destination City --
Destination State --
Destination Country --
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Sep 23 2002 9:31AM
User who most recently changed record SULP
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 18
Runway Length 4099
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --