Piper PA46 N1982F

Summary

On 1 March 2016 at about 20:43 local time, a Piper PA46 registered N1982F, operated by Valaqsur LLC, was involved in an accident near Brunswick, Georgia, United States. 3 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.

Date

1 March 2016 at 20:43

Classification

Accident

Location

Brunswick, Georgia, United States

Nearest airport

McKinnon St Simons Island (SSI)

Coordinates

31.1517, -81.3911

Aircraft

Piper PA46

Registration

N1982F

Category

Airplane

Year built

2012

Engines

1

Operator

Valaqsur LLC

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Marathon → Brunswick

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA16LA121

Nobody was injured.

A hard landing, which resulted in the collapse of the nose gear assembly due to an overstress fracture and separation of the right side mounting point.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The private pilot reported that, after a normal landing on the main landing gear in gusty quartering headwind conditions, the nose gear touched down and he heard a "pop," then he "started losing control of the airplane." The nose continued to drop past the normal landing attitude while the pilot applied back pressure to the yoke and focused his attention on stopping the airplane and maintaining directional control. The pilot added that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions with the airplane. Examination of the nose landing gear revealed that the actuator was extended 6.8 inches, consistent with the nose gear being down and locked. This area of the nose gear assembly displayed gouging and missing material consistent with ground impact. The nose landing gear assembly was attached on the left side; however, the bolt was bent and the right side mounting point was fractured and separated from its attachment point, displaying fracture features consistent with overstress failure, which was likely the result of a hard landing.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.