Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Tallahassee Rgnl Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Tallahassee, Florida 32310
Tuesady, October 8, 2013 12:10 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On October 8, 2013, about 1210 eastern daylight time, a JetProp DLX Piper PA46-350P, N640BD, operated by Municipal Code Corporation, sustained minor damage when its nose landing gear collapsed while landing at the Tallahassee Regional Airport (TLH), Tallahassee, Florida. The airline transport pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and an instrument flight rules flight plan had been filed for the flight that departed Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport (SRQ), Sarasota, Florida, destined for Gulfport, Mississippi. The business flight was conducted under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.
The pilot reported that the takeoff from SRQ was normal; however, after he raised the landing gear, the red gear warning annunciator light remained illuminated. He cycled the landing gear and observed three corresponding green annunciator lights when the gear handle was selected to the down position, but he continued to observe the red landing gear annunciator warning light after the landing gear was selected to the up position. The pilot elected to divert to TLH, which was where the airplane was based. He again received cockpit annunciator light indications that the all three landing gear were down and locked prior to landing; however, during touchdown, the nose of the airplane continued to slowly drop until the propeller contacted the runway.
Subsequent inspection of the airplane revealed that the aft nose landing gear hydraulic actuator bolt was fractured. The bolt head with about 1-inch of the shank was not recovered. The remaining portion of the bolt, which included the locknut and washer was retained and forwarded to the Safety Board’s Materials Laboratory, Washington, DC, for examination.
Initial review of maintenance records revealed that the airplane had been operated for about 2,850 hours since it was modified under a Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) by Rocket Engineering Corporation, Spokane, Washington, on August 13, 2001. The STC called for replacing the original factory installed Lycoming TIO-540 series engine with a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-34 series engine, and included associated airframe alterations.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 10/8/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1210 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Tallahassee |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 32310 |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 302348N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0842105W |
| Event Location Airport | TALLAHASSEE RGNL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | TLH |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 83 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1153 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TLH |
| 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 | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 19 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 40 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.96 |
| 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) | -- |
| 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 | Oct 28 2013 1:56PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N640BD |
| NTSB Number | ERA14IA019 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Minor |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA 46 350P |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | JetProp |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 4622095 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4299 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 6 |
| 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 | Jan 20 2013 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 55 |
| Airframe Hours | 4576 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MUNICIPAL CODE CORP |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | PO BOX 2235 |
| Aircraft Owner City | TALLAHASSEE |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 32316 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | MUNICIPAL CODE CORP |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | PO BOX 2235 |
| Operator City | TALLAHASSEE |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 32316 |
| 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) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | SRQ |
| Departure City | SARASOTA |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1050 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | GPT |
| Destination City | GULFPORT |
| Destination State | MS |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 28 2013 1:56PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 36 |
| Runway Length | 6076 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |