Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Plant City Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Plant City, Florida 33567
Sunday, July 10, 2011 15:30 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that he departed and proceeded to a nearby airport where he performed six touch-and-go takeoffs and landings followed by one full-stop landing, all of which were uneventful. Before landing during the return flight, the pilot lowered the landing gear lever and observed that there were no landing gear down-and-locked indications and that the landing gear circuit breaker (CB) was tripped. The pilot reset the CB and attempted to raise then lower the landing gear; however, the landing gear failed to fully extend, and the landing gear CB tripped again. Attempts to extend the landing gear using the emergency extension lever in accordance with the Pilot’s Operating Handbook, using G-loading, and following guidance from maintenance personnel were unsuccessful. The pilot performed a fly-by and was informed that the landing gear appeared to be partially extended. The pilot turned off the fuel and master and placed the mixture controls to idle-cutoff. At touchdown, the right main landing gear collapsed, followed by the left, then the nose. The airplane came to rest on the runway. Postaccident examination of the nose landing gear revealed that a screw was broken off in the first thread of the nose landing gear aligner assembly. The head of the screw and associated bushings were separated and not located. No determination was made for the reason for the fractured screw. The manufacturer’s assessment indicated there have been no service difficulty reports pertaining to the screw.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of a screw in the nose landing gear aligner assembly for undetermined reasons, which prevented the landing gear from fully extending.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/10/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1530 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Plant City |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33567 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 280000N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0820947W |
| Event Location Airport | Plant City Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PCM |
| 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 | 153 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1535 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PCM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 153 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 8500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3200 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 24 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 10 |
| 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) | 30.05 |
| 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) | 29460 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Southern 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 | Dec 29 2011 6:31PM |
| User who most recently changed record | gots |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N325EE |
| NTSB Number | ERA11CA396 |
| 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-30 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 30-1537 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3725 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 11 2011 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 6388 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Louis A. Caporicci |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Tampa |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 33606 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Louis A. Caporicci |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Tampa |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 33606 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | ZPH |
| Departure City | Zephyrhills |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1445 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | PCM |
| Destination City | Plant City |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 29 2011 6:31PM |
| User who most recently changed record | gots |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 10 |
| Runway Length | 3948 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |