Piper PA46-500TP N46ME
3 May 2011 · Rock Springs, Wyoming, United States · No injuries
Summary
On 3 May 2011 at about 23:40 local time, a Piper PA46-500TP registered N46ME, operated by Pope Elmore Eugene, was involved in an accident near Rock Springs, Wyoming, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.
The record
- Date
- at 23:40
- Classification
- Accident
- Location
- Rock Springs, Wyoming, United States
- Nearest airport
- Rock Springs (KRKS)
- Coordinates
- 41.5942, -109.0653
- Aircraft
- Piper PA46-500TP
- Registration
- N46ME
- Category
- Airplane
- Engines
- 1
- Operator
- Pope Elmore Eugene
- Operating rule
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Purpose of flight
- Personal
- Phase of flight
- Not recorded
- Route
- Rock Springs → Seattle
- Aircraft damage
- Substantial
- Weather
- VMC
- Light
- Day
- NTSB number
- WPR11LA218
People
Nobody was injured.
| On board | Died | Serious | Minor | Uninjured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Probable cause
The overstress fracture of the right aileron midspan hinge bracket due to modal vibrations created by a deflated right main landing gear tire during the takeoff roll.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.
Read the full NTSB narrative
During the takeoff roll, as the airplane approached 70 knots, it started slowly pulling to the right. The pilot immediately aborted the takeoff and stopped the airplane on the runway using brakes and reverse propeller thrust. The pilot inspected the airplane and found that the right main landing gear tire had blown, and the right aileron had buckled at the aileron midspan hinge location. There were no scuff marks or indentations to indicate that the hinge or area around the hinge had been struck by debris. The hinge was still attached to the aileron, but the attach bracket that connected the hinge to the wing had fractured. Metallurgical examination revealed that the failure of the hinge bracket was the result of overstress forces applied to the hinge. Overstress failure of only the midspan hinge is somewhat unusual when none of the other hinges were damaged, which suggests modal vibration forces concentrated at this particular hinge. It is likely that the flat tire could have induced the vibratory mode in the aileron at the midspan hinge.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.
Other Piper PA46 accidents
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 Aug 2011 | Piper PA46 | Manasses, Virginia, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 9 Jan 2011 | Piper PA46-500TP | Phoenix, Arizona, United States | Craig S. Gaylord | No injuries | - |
| 29 Mar 2011 | Piper PA46-350P | Monroe, Michigan, United States | - | Fatal | 3 |
| 8 Mar 2011 | Piper PA46-500TP | Lausanne, Switzerland | Sarl Priv' Air | No injuries | - |
| 17 Nov 2012 | Piper PA46 | La Crete, Canada | - | Fatal | 1 |
| 12 Sep 2010 | Piper PA46-310P | Farmington, New Mexico, United States | Avionta LLC | No injuries | - |
Other accidents in this area
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 Aug 2011 | Aviat A-1C-200 | Casper, Wyoming, United States | Christopher Burrows | No injuries | - |
| 12 Aug 2011 | Richmond Jim R CCK-1865 | Dubois, Wyoming, United States | Neil Neumeyer | No injuries | - |
| 13 Dec 2011 | Bell 407 | Rock Springs, Wyoming, United States | Guardian Flight | Minor injuries | - |
| 2 Jan 2011 | Piper PA-18-180 | Shoshoni, Wyoming, United States | United States Department Agriculture | No injuries | - |
| 16 Dec 2011 | Beechcraft J35 | Cheyenne, Wyoming, United States | Becker Lawrence D | No injuries | - |
| 25 Jul 2011 | Ryan NAVION A | Torrington, Wyoming, United States | Liddle Cable Co Inc | Minor injuries | - |