Nephi Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Nephi, Utah 84648
Wednesday, February 23, 2011 9:00 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

Before the accident flight, the pilot diverted to an alternate airport due to inclement weather. While landing, the pilot felt a shimmy in the landing gear but reported that the landing was otherwise normal. The pilot did not inspect the landing gear. On the accident flight, the pilot flew to his intended airport and decided to conduct a soft-field landing; he lowered the nose landing gear after the main landing gear touched down. Upon contact with the runway, the nose landing gear began to shimmy. The airplane veered to the left of the runway and the pilot attempted to return it to runway centerline. The nose landing gear then collapsed, and the airplane continued off the runway and into a snow bank, where the nose gear was sheared off. The pilot reported that when he purchased the airplane the year before, he had felt a similar shimmy in the landing gear. He further stated that 2 weeks before the accident, the airplane had gone through an annual inspection during which the landing gear actuator had been sent out for overhaul. The pilot had flown the airplane about 10 hours since the inspection. The cause of the nose gear failure was not determined because postaccident examination could not determine if the damage occurred before the impact with the snow bank or during the accident sequence.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The failure of the nose gear during landing for reasons that could not be determined due to postaccident damage.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 2/23/2011
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 900
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City Nephi
Event State UTAH
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 84648
Event Date Year 2011
Event Date Month 2
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 394411N
Event Location Longitude 1115212W
Event Location Airport Nephi Municipal Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID U14
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 5022
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 850 Mountain Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 10
Weather Observation Facility ID PVU
Elevation of weather observation facility 4497
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 30
Time Zone of the weather observation MST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 9000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 15
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 1
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -6
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator Variable
Wind Speed (knots) 4
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.99
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) 32984
NTSB Notification Source FAA AMN Regional Operations Ce
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Aug 20 2014 2:48PM
User who most recently changed record broda
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N891X
NTSB Number WPR11LA143
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 MOONEY
Aircraft Model M20F
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 670257
Certified Max Gross Weight --
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 --
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Nov 1 2010 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name Val Jensen
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Lancaster
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 93534
Operator is an individual? Yes
Operator Name Val Jensen
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Lancaster
Operator State CA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 93534
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) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code 67L
Departure City Mesquite
Departure State NV
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 645
Departure Time Zone PST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code U14
Destination City Nephi
Destination State UT
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Aug 13 2014 2:51PM
User who most recently changed record coos
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 16
Runway Length 6298
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --