Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Flagstaff Puliam Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Flagstaff, Arizona 86001
Tuesady, March 15, 2005 14:10 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane veered off the left side of the runway during the landing roll and the nose landing gear collapsed upon impact with a snow bank. The pilot reported that the airplane touched down normally on the main landing gear, but when the nose landing gear touched down the airplane veered suddenly and violently to the left. He believed the nose landing gear was not responding to normal control inputs. The tire and skid marks on the runway were consistent with the pilot's statement and showed that the airplane's track diverged in excess of 70 degrees from the runway centerline just after nose wheel touchdown. Examination of the tires disclosed that the nose tire was scrubbed perpendicularly to the tire tread from right to left. No flat spots or other unusual signatures were observed on the main tires or the brakes. Post accident investigation of the nose landing gear system revealed the bolt that attaches the hydraulic actuator to the engine mount was sheared and the nose gear steering arm was fractured. Examination of the steering arm revealed it met the manufacturer's specifications and its failure, along with the bolt, was determined to be overload. Examination of the steering bungee revealed no obvious anomalies. According to the airplane manufacturer, there were 32 prior reports of temporary and unexplained loss of directional control immediately following nose wheel touchdown during landings, primarily when crosswind conditions are present and/or when applying full propeller reverse. Investigation of those events by the manufacturer's engineering department found that a contributing cause of the directional control problems was identified as insufficient nose gear steering authority, which under certain conditions, can allow the nose gear steering system rotation to momentarily exceed the pilot's input. The manufacturer issued a service bulletin, which recommended the incorporation of nose gear installation modifications. The modifications were intended to increase the pilot's steering authority and remedy the directional control problems. According to manufacturer, the accident airplane was manufactured after all of the nose gear modifications were implemented on the production line.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the loss of directional control during landing for undetermined reasons.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/15/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1410 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Flagstaff |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 86001 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 350819N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1114016W |
| Event Location Airport | Flagstaff Puliam Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | FLG |
| 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 | 7011 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1456 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FLG |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 7011 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| 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) | 1 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -18 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 50 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 15 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.01 |
| 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) | 20171 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 15 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1530 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 29 2006 3:49PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Scottsdale, Arizona |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N504SR |
| NTSB Number | LAX05LA116 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-46-500TP |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 4697165 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5134 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 1 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 84.5 |
| Airframe Hours | 186.9 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Synergy Aviation LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1821 South Avenue W |
| Aircraft Owner City | Missoula |
| Aircraft Owner State | MT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 59801 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Steven P. Urry |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Park City |
| Operator State | UT |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 84060 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 36U |
| Departure City | Heber |
| Departure State | UT |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1330 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | FLG |
| Destination City | Flagstaff |
| Destination State | AZ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - flare/touchdown |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 2 2006 6:05PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 3 |
| Runway Length | 6999 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |