Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Westley, California 95385
Tuesady, July 14, 2009 10:00 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilots encountered smoke in the cockpit originating from the area of the copilot's rudder pedals. The pilots performed the emergency procedures for an electrical fire, which included shutting down the electrical systems. The smoke seemed to initially subside, but then gradually intensified before the engine lost power. The pilots were unable to restart the engine and decided to concentrate on making an off-airport landing. While landing in a plowed field, the nosewheel collapsed almost immediately. Postaccident examination revealed extensive fire damage to the rear of the engine and to the firewall. The nose gear hydraulic actuator flexible hose assembly also sustained extensive fire damage consistent with being near the source of the fire. Further inspection found that the nose gear hydraulic down line remained attached at both attachment fittings. The flexible hose assembly installed on the nose gear actuator uses an AN-style B-nut fitting. The internally threaded hose socket is screwed onto the end of the hose, and the B-nut is secured to the actuator fitting by an externally threaded nipple. Closer examination of the hydraulic line fitting where it attaches to the actuator revealed a crack running along the entire length of the socket. The hose remained inserted into the socket, but because of the crack, the socket fitting could be turned by hand on the hose. The nose gear actuator hydraulic line was then removed. The hose end was easily pulled out and separated from the socket. The manufacturer's identification band indicated that the hose assembly was manufactured in the third quarter of 1991. A review of the scheduled maintenance section of the PA-46-310P maintenance manual in the landing gear group section states in part, to "Replace flexible hoses as required, but no later than 1,000 hours of operation or eight years and at engine overhaul". Although the identification band on the hose assembly indicated that it was manufactured in 1991, no log book entry was located indicating that the hose assembly had ever been replaced.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the landing gear hydraulic line socket, which resulted in a hydraulic leak and in-flight fire. Contributing to the accident was the failure of the owner and/or maintenance facility to comply with the maintenance manual hose replacement schedule.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/14/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1000 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Westley |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95385 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 373539N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1211556W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 953 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MOD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 97 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 15 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| 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) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 310 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.86 |
| 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) | 27594 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA- WP Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 7 2010 5:33PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N330HT |
| NTSB Number | WPR09LA341 |
| 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 | In-flight |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-46-310P |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 468408010 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4100 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 2 |
| 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 | Aug 13 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 33 |
| Airframe Hours | 3700 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | WORNER FRANK ALBAN III TRUSTEE |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | LAFAYETTE |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 94549-2307 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | WORNER FRANK ALBAN III TRUSTEE |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | LAFAYETTE |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 94549-2307 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | CCR |
| Departure City | Concord |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 830 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | CCR |
| Destination City | Concord |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 7 2010 5:21PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |