Individually Owned: 151,491
Corporate Owned: 139,368
Orlando-Sanford International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Sanford, Florida 32771
Sunday, August 16, 2009 11:30 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During landing, as the nose landing gear wheel made contact with the runway, the airplane veered suddenly to the left and exited the runway, incurring substantial damage, before coming to a stop in the adjacent grass area. Examination of the airplane’s nose gear assembly revealed the separation of the nose gear actuator attachment weld tube area (foot) of the motor mount. The metallurgical examination of fractured surface revealed fatigue crack emanating from multiple origins at the exterior of the joint where the attachment foot was welded to the support tube. The motor mount was a new design from the manufacturer which was to eliminate the concerns of fatigue separation of the weld in the foot area which was a problem with the old design motor mounts. The airplane had an annual inspection 36 flight hours prior to the accident. The new design motor mount does not have any specific inspection guidance during scheduled maintenance for identifying fatigue cracking in the actuator attach points. The old design motor mounts had detailed inspection instructions to detect fatigue cracking in the welds of the foot areas.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The fatigue cracking at the point the nose landing gear actuator attaches to the mount resulting in separation of the actuator and partial collapse of the nose landing gear. Contributing to the accident was the lack of specific inspection guidance for scheduled maintenance to find and/or identify fatigue cracking in the welded actuator attach points of the newly designed mounts.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/16/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1130 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Sanford |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 32771 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 284636N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0811407W |
| Event Location Airport | Orlando-Sanford International |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KSFB |
| 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 | 55 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1133 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SFB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 55 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3300 |
| 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) | 32 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 22 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 120 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 16 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.13 |
| 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) | 27391 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Southern Region C-ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 18 2010 12:04PM |
| User who most recently changed record | lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N548C |
| NTSB Number | ERA09LA471 |
| 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-46-350P |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 4636322 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4100 |
| 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 | Feb 16 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 36 |
| Airframe Hours | 711 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91-A |
| Aircraft Owner Name | REAL ESTATE EQUIPMENT LEASING LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 300 PRIMERA BLVD STE 356 |
| Aircraft Owner City | LAKE MARY |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 32746-2143 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Steven Ira |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Longwood |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 32779 |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | KJKA |
| Departure City | Gulf Shores |
| Departure State | AL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 930 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | KSFB |
| Destination City | Sanford |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 1 2010 1:28PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 09L |
| Runway Length | 9600 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |