Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Calexico Intl Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Calexico, California 92231
Saturday, October 12, 2013 15:00 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On October 12, 2013, at 1500 Pacific daylight time, a Piper PA-31P, N14TG, experienced a nose gear separation during the landing roll at the Calexico International Airport, Calexico, California. The commercial pilot and two passengers were not injured. The forward fuselage was substantially damaged. The airplane was registered to and operated by Flying Bull Aviation under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The flight originated from El Cajon, California, at 1425.
The pilot reported that he set-up for a straight in approach to runway 8. The approach was normal and the prelanding checklist was completed. The pilot stated that he was targeting 90 KIAS for touchdown, but the airspeed was slightly fast approaching the runway so he pulled the power back to idle and flared. The airplane was unresponsive when he pulled up the nose as the airplane settled on the main landing gear. The nosewheel abruptly sheared off upon surface contact and the airplane nosed down and slid about 1,000 feet down the runway before coming to rest.
The pilot further reported that there are known problems controlling the nose attitude in the landing configuration between 90 KIAS and the recommended landing speed around 80 KIAS. Both these speeds are above the stalling speed, but too slow to respond to pilot action regarding elevator control.
Post accident examination of the nose gear strut found that the housing was ruptured and the strut was broken. Further examination revealed no evidence of preimpact mechanical malfunction or failure that would have precluded normal operation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/12/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1500 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Calexico |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 92231 |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 324002N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1153103W |
| Event Location Airport | CALEXICO INTL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | CXL |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 6686 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 76 |
| Airport Elevation | 5 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1455 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CXL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 6 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| 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) | 6 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 90 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 2 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.84 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | Pilot |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 30 2014 4:04PM |
| User who most recently changed record | eckd |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N14TG |
| NTSB Number | WPR14LA051 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA 31P |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | UNDESIGNAT |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 31P-7400190 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 7800 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 8 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 8 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 23 2012 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 150 |
| Airframe Hours | 3301 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | FLYING BULL AVIATION LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | SANTEE |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 920715674 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | FLYING BULL AVIATION LLC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | SANTEE |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 920715674 |
| 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 | SEE |
| Departure City | El Cajon |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1425 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | CXL |
| Destination City | Calexico |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 4 2014 8:10PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 08 |
| Runway Length | 4683 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |