Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Pierce County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Puyallup, Washington 98375
Saturday, May 14, 2005 12:00 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the pilot, the landing approach "looked good." During the flare, the airplane "hit wind shear" and landed "a little hard." The pilot added power and executed a go around. He heard a banging noise coming from beneath the airplane and declared an emergency. He elected to return to the airport and landed off the runway in a grassy area. During the emergency landing, the airplane settled onto the right wing. The pilot reported that he determined the right main landing gear had separated during the hard landing and remained attached to the airplane only by the brake line. Closer inspection revealed that the two upper torque link attach lugs on the right main landing gear strut cylinder (P/N 65319-04) had separated. Both separation surfaces displayed beach marks, ratchet marks, and areas of discoloration indicative of preexisting cracks. Research revealed that on August 18, 2003, the airplane manufacturer (Piper) had issued Service Bulletin 1131, which called for an inspection of the main landing gear cylinder upper torque link attach lugs for cracks in the area where the subject cylinder failed. This Service Bulletin had not been performed on the accident airplane.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The fatigue cracking of the upper torque link attach lugs on the right main landing gear strut, which resulted in separation of the right main landing gear.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/14/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1200 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Puyallup |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 98375 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 470614N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1221714W |
| Event Location Airport | Pierce County |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 1S0 |
| 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 | 538 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| 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) | 18387 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA FSDO - SEA |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 17 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 13 2005 12:54PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Seattle, WA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7263J |
| NTSB Number | SEA05LA106 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| 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-28-140 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-24548 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2150 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 10 |
| Airframe Hours | 4780 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Carol M. Anable |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Auburn |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 98092 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Christopher C. Anable |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Auburn |
| Operator State | WA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 98092 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | S50 |
| Departure City | Auburn |
| Departure State | WA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1100 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | 1S0 |
| Destination City | Puyallup |
| Destination State | WA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - flare/touchdown |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 24 2005 6:48PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 16 |
| Runway Length | 3650 |
| Runway Width | 60 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |