Inverness Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Inverness, Florida 34436
Wednesday, September 15, 2010 15:00 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The purpose of the flight was to conduct practice takeoffs and landings in the local airport traffic pattern utilizing a short field landing technique. During the landing roll, the pilot applied the brakes and retracted the flaps, then heard a "bang" as the nose landing gear collapsed and folded back into the wheel well. The nose of the airplane subsequently settled onto the runway and both propellers struck the runway surface. Postaccident examination of the nose landing gear revealed that the rivets attaching the nose landing gear actuator bracket to its mounting bulkhead had sheared vertically due to the landing. Additionally, the upper nose landing gear drag link attachment bolt was bent, consistent with a hard landing.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's improper flare which resulted in a hard landing and subsequent collapse of the nose landing gear.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/15/2010
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1500
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Inverness
Event State FLORIDA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 34436
Event Date Year 2010
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 284813N
Event Location Longitude 0820418W
Event Location Airport Inverness Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID X40
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 50
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1855 Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 287
Weather Observation Facility ID CGC
Elevation of weather observation facility 9
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 14
Time Zone of the weather observation UTC
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 5000
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) 33
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 20
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 100
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 11
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.02
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) 29007
NTSB Notification Source FAA Southern 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 9 2011 9:15AM
User who most recently changed record johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N2872S
NTSB Number ERA10TA481
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Public Use
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 34-7970315
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 7
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Apr 1 2010 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 4043
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name CITRUS COUNTY SHERIFFS DEPARTMENT
Aircraft Owner Street Address 1 SOUTH PARK AVE
Aircraft Owner City INVERNESS
Aircraft Owner State FL
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 32650
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name CITRUS COUNTY SHERIFFS DEPARTMENT
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address 1 SOUTH PARK AVE
Operator City INVERNESS
Operator State FL
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 32650
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) --
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code X40
Departure City Inverness
Departure State FL
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code X40
Destination City Inverness
Destination State FL
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Sep 30 2011 12:15PM
User who most recently changed record kenj
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 19
Runway Length 2500
Runway Width 60
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --