Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
South Jersey Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Mount Holly, New Jersey 08055
Monday, July 27, 2009 11:30 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Prior to departure, the pilot asked the director of maintenance (DOM) to look at the landing gear switches on the airplane as the in-transit light was remaining illuminated. The DOM examined both main gear switches and cleaned the left main landing gear as it had mud and dirt on it. On previous flights, as well as the flight before the accident, the pilot also observed that the gear unsafe light had remained illuminated until the landing gear was lowered and retracted. During the accident flight, when the landing gear was retracted, the gear unsafe light remained illuminated. This time when the pilot arrived at his destination, and extended the landing gear, the left main landing gear down light would not illuminate. The pilot then retracted and extended the landing gear and the light still would not illuminate. He then retracted and lowered the landing gear several times until finally after a short and unusual delay, the left main landing gear down light illuminated. Postaccident examination of fragments of the left forward main landing gear support fitting revealed that it failed in overstress possibly as a result of a hard landing. The landing gear had shifted from its normal mounting position and the main spar had been damaged. Maintenance records revealed that 6.9 hours after a scheduled 50 hour service unscheduled maintenance was performed. Both main tires and tubes were replaced and the wheel bearings were cleaned, inspected, and repacked. A review of the airplane's maintenance records, and daily flight log did not reveal the entry of any discrepancies that accounted for the unscheduled maintenance to replace the tires and tubes or the mud on the gear switches. Furthermore, none of the repetitive gear problems which had been reported by the pilot prior to the accident had been entered into the maintenance records nor had any corrective actions been entered.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A hard landing on an unknown date, resulting in damage to the left main landing gear support fitting.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/27/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1130 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Mount Holly |
| Event State | NEW JERSEY |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 08055 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 395620N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0745026W |
| Event Location Airport | South Jersey Regional Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | VAY |
| 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 | 53 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1154 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | VAY |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 53 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2200 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| 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) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 21 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.98 |
| 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) | 28545 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Eastern ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 4 2011 1:22PM |
| User who most recently changed record | andj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1494X |
| NTSB Number | ERA09LA427 |
| 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-34-200T |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 34-7570262 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4570 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 26 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 4310 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Great Escape Aviation Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Wilmington |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19803 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Air Transport Inc. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Princeton |
| Operator State | NJ |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 08540 |
| Operator Code | ATJA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | ATJA262C |
| 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) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 39N |
| Departure City | Princeton |
| Departure State | NJ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1100 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | VAY |
| Destination City | Mount Holly |
| Destination State | NJ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 14 2011 1:36PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 26 |
| Runway Length | 3911 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |