Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Smith Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Fort Wayne, Indiana 46825
Saturday, November 18, 2006 11:00 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The private pilot reported that during landing at the conclusion of a personal flight, the airplane turned abruptly to the left and went off the side of the runway. The landing gear encountered muddy terrain, and the nose landing gear collapsed. Inspection of the nose gear support structure by an NTSB materials engineer disclosed that the right nose gear attachment foot had fractured at the right engine support mount due to fatigue failure. The airframe manufacturer had an applicable service bulletin that recommended increased inspection of the failed area because of a history of cracking. The service bulletin had reportedly been complied with about 18 service hours prior to the nose gear failure, but portions of the failed component had not been completely stripped of paint as recommended to check for cracking. The existing service bulletin was superseded with another service bulletin that reduced the inspection intervals. The manufacturer has also developed a replacement part that, when installed, will end the repetitive inspection requirement of the failed component. Additionally, the old-style component is no longer available as a replacement part.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The fatigue failure/separation of the engine mount's nose gear actuator attachment foot, and the manufacturer's inadequate engine mount/nose gear actuator attachment design.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 11/18/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1100 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Fort Wayne |
| Event State | INDIANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 46825 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 410836N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0850916W |
| Event Location Airport | Smith Field |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SMD |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 834 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1054 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 191 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FWA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 815 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Dusk |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 6 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 6 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 350 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.05 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 23380 |
| NTSB Notification Source | NTSB MIA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 8 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 30 2008 1:28PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | South Bend, IN, FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4185L |
| NTSB Number | CHI07IA067 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR/IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Minor |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-46-500TP |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 4697025 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4850 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 18 |
| Airframe Hours | 1128.5 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | WDW Aviation Leasing Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 11130 Kingston Pike PMB 1-183 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Knoxville |
| Aircraft Owner State | TN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 37922 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | American Book Company |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Knoxville |
| Operator State | TN |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 37922 |
| 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) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | BMG |
| Departure City | Bloomington |
| Departure State | IN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1000 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | SMD |
| Destination City | Fort Wayne |
| Destination State | IN |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - roll |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 31 2008 9:13AM |
| User who most recently changed record | BOWL |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 5 |
| Runway Length | 3110 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |