Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Boyne City Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Boyne City, Michigan 49712
Wednesday, October 31, 2012 9:30 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that, during landing, the nosewheel steering was not engaged and that, after the airplane touched down, it made an uncommanded left turn. The pilot used landing gear braking and reverse thrust to control the airplane, but it still continued to veer left and then off the runway. The airplane struck the airport perimeter fence and a tree and came to rest.
Postaccident examinations and tests of the nosewheel steering system and its associated components revealed that the steering actuator did move uncommanded at varying rates and directions when electrical power was off and hydraulics were engaged to the nosewheel steering system. Further, this occurred as a result of the select/bypass valve's failure to seal properly when in an unpowered state due to incorrect shimming within the select/bypass valve, which allowed hydraulic fluid to enter the servo valve when the system was off. The available hydraulic pressure was then ported to move the steering actuator relative to the position of the servo valve spool. Examinations also confirmed that, when the servo valve was electrically powered off, the spool could slightly free-float, and the unpowered spool position could be biased in the direction of the last commanded travel from when the system was last engaged. Examination of the rest of the airplane revealed no other mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.
The nose landing gear assembly was overhauled 7 days before the accident. However, the postaccident examinations revealed that the overhaul was not conducted in accordance with the manufacturer's component maintenance manual and did not meet the requirements of Service Bulletin 80-0249, which was required by Airworthiness Directive (AD ) 2009-21-08 rev 1, even though the maintenance records indicated that the AD was completed and signed off by the operator for the accident airplane.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The select/bypass valve's failure to seal correctly because of improper shimming, which resulted in an uncommanded and uncontrollable left turn during landing. Contributing to the accident was the overhaul facility's improper overhaul of the steering manifold.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/31/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 930 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Boyne City |
| Event State | MICHIGAN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 49712 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 451232N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0845924W |
| Event Location Airport | Boyne City Municipal Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | N98 |
| 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 | 660 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | 905 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 300 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KCVX |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 13 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1600 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 1600 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Thin Overcast |
| 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) | 5 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 360 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 16 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 25 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.68 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | Wx at CVX AWOS - 1255Z wind 360 at 16 kts gusting |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 32937 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA - Eastern Michigan FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 29 2014 6:07PM |
| User who most recently changed record | linj-i |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N401WS |
| NTSB Number | CEN13FA038 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIAGGIO |
| Aircraft Model | P180 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | Avanti |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1057 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 12100 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 2 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 11 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 10 2012 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 2 |
| Airframe Hours | 3002 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | ANN ARBOR AVIATION PARTNERS, LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | ANN ARBOR |
| Aircraft Owner State | MI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 48105 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Flagship Private Air, LLC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Belleville |
| Operator State | MI |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 48111 |
| Operator Code | 2FPA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| 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) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | KYIP |
| Departure City | Detroit |
| Departure State | MI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 822 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | N98 |
| Destination City | Boyne City |
| Destination State | MI |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 29 2014 11:56AM |
| User who most recently changed record | linj-i |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 27 |
| Runway Length | 4001 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |