New Piper PA-46-500T N535JR

Summary

On 4 February 2009 at about 19:19 local time, a New Piper PA-46-500T registered N535JR, operated by Richbuilt Construction LLC, was involved in an incident near Aspen, Colorado, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was slightly damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

4 February 2009 at 19:19

Classification

Incident

Location

Aspen, Colorado, United States

Nearest airport

Aspen-Pitkin County Airport (ASE)

Coordinates

39.2231, -106.8689

Aircraft

New Piper PA-46-500T

Registration

N535JR

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Richbuilt Construction LLC

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Tulsa → Aspen

Aircraft damage

Minor

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN09IA153

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's inability to maintain directional control of the airplane during landing for undetermined reasons.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The private pilot and passenger were landing following a cross-country flight. As soon as the nosewheel touched down on landing, the airplane pulled to the left. The pilot attempted to correct to the right and the airplane began swerving and exited the right side of the runway and came to a stop in a snow bank. The pilot told investigators the airplane had seven previous instances of the airplane pulling to the left during landing. In each of those cases, the steering departure occurred upon nosewheel touchdown and the pilot was able to regain control. Weather at the time of the accident was clear skies and the winds were variable at five knots. Postaccident examination of the airplane showed the nose gear rake angle was negative (-) .5 to -.7 degrees. Proper rake angle is 0.0 to positive .5 degrees. The manufacturers's analysis of the measured -.5 to -.7 degree rake angle showed that the rake angle maintained a positive margin of safety against dynamic nosewheel shimmy. The investigation could not determine the cause of the steering departure.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.