Piper PA46 N777PG

Summary

On 31 January 2016 at about 22:59 local time, a Piper PA46 registered N777PG was involved in an accident near Burns, Oregon, United States. One person was 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

31 January 2016 at 22:59

Classification

Accident

Location

Burns, Oregon, United States

Nearest airport

Burns Muni (BNO)

Coordinates

43.5919, -118.9556

Aircraft

Piper PA46

Registration

N777PG

Category

Airplane

Year built

1987

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Seattle → Scottsdale

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR16LA060

Nobody was injured.

The total loss of engine power for reasons that could not be determined because postaccident examination revealed no evidence of an anomaly that would have precluded normal operation. Contributing to the accident was a preexisting landing gear anomaly that prevented the landing gear from completely extending after flight at high altitude in cold weather during landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The private pilot reported that, about 90 minutes after takeoff and about 19,000 ft, the engine of the high-performance pressurized airplane lost total power. Although the loss of power happened at high altitude, for the next 11 minutes, the pilot did not perform any troubleshooting steps, which were limited in scope and would not have taken long to complete, and instead diverted directly to an airport. After arriving at the diversion airport with altitude remaining, the pilot performed a circling descent maneuver over the runway. During the landing approach, he moved the landing gear selection lever to the "down" position, but the gear did not extend, so the pilot chose to land the airplane on snow adjacent to the runway. Just before touchdown, the main landing gear extended, but the nose landing gear remained retracted. Upon touchdown, the airplane's nose dug into the snow. The airplane then abruptly stopped, sustaining substantial damage to the forward fuselage and both wings. Examination of the engine and landing gear did not reveal any anomalies that would have precluded normal operation, and the engine performed normally during a subsequent test run. Given the engine ran normally during the test run, it is possible that, if the pilot had attempted to troubleshoot the problem, engine power could have been restored. The reason for the loss of engine power could not be determined. According to the owner, there was a previously undiagnosed landing gear problem that, on two previous occasions, had resulted in the delayed deployment of the landing gear after flying at high altitudes in cold weather. Given the airplane was flying at high altitude in cold weather when the event occurred, a reoccurrence of the landing gear anomaly could not be ruled out.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.