# Incident 20110416006499I: Piper PA-44-180, Prescott, AZ, April 16, 2011 - Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported - Date: April 16, 2011, 22:45 local time - Place: Prescott, AZ - Airport: Ernest A Love Field - Damage: Minor damage - Phase of flight: Landing: Rollout - Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91) - Operator: BF8S - Location: 34.5400° N, 112.4685° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs: center of Prescott, AZ, within about 6 miles (OpenAirDocs) - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=34.5400&lon=-112.4685&mi=10 - Aircraft: N574ER (not matched to a registry record) - Reported make and model: PIPER PA-44-180 - Reported engine: LYCOMING O-360 SERIES - People aboard: 2 - Fatal injuries: 0 - Other injuries: 0 - Pilot certificates: Commercial pilot, flight instructor - Pilot flight hours: 1,500 total, 250 in this make and model, 100 in the last 90 days - FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/) - Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20110416006499I ## Narrative As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^. ON APRIL 16, 2011 NATE DE PUTTER AND JAMES RIGHTMIRE WERE CONDUCTING AN ADMINISTRATIVELY AUTHORIZED FLIGHT FOR THE PURPOSE OF MAINTAINING NIGHT CURRENCY. NATE DE PUTTER WAS ACTING AS PIC, FLYING FROM THE RIGHT SEAT OF A PIPER PA-44-180, SEMINOLE, N574ER, OWNED AND OPERATED BY EMBRY RIDDLE AERONAUTICAL UNIVERSITY, HOLDER OF A 14 CFR PART 141 FLIGHT SCHOOL CERTIFICATE. THE AIRCRAFT DEPARTED RUNWAY 30 AND FLEW A RIGHT TRAFFIC PATTERN FOR RUNWAY 21L. THE FIRST LANDING WAS UNEVENTFUL AND BOTH PILOTS REPORT THAT A FEW SECONDS FOLLOWING TOUCHDOWN, THE AIRCRAFT "SETTLED" WHICH IS APPARENTLY A "NORMAL" OCCURRENCE IN THE SEMINOLE. FOLLOWING THE FULL STOP LANDING, THE AIRCRAFT DEPARTED FOR A SECOND CIRCUIT. THE PIC REPORTS THAT ON THE SECOND TAKE OFF ROLL, THE RIGHT MAIN GEAR FELT SLIGHTLY UNSTABLE BUT THAT IT WAS SIMILAR TO THE USUAL FEELING FROM THE SEMINOLE GEAR. THE PIC EXECUTED THE SECOND LANDING AND NOTED THAT THE AIRCRAFT AGAIN "SETTLED" BUT THAT THIS TIME THE RIGHT WING BEGAN TO LOWER MORE THAN USUAL. THE PIC INPUT LEFT YOKE DEFLECTION TO COUNTER THIS. THE PIC ALSO FEATHERED THE RIGHT PROP AND THE PILOT NOT FLYING REPORTED PLACING BOTH ENGINE MIXTURE CONTROLS IN THE CUT-OFF POSITIONS. THE AIRCRAFT CREATED MARKS INDICATING THAT THE AIRCRAFT SKID FOR APPROXIMATELY 930 FEET FROM THE POINT OF THE RIGHT MAIN GEAR FAILING AND THE AIRCRAFT COMING TO REST. AN INSPECTION OF THE AIRCRAFT REVEALED THAT THE RIGHT MAIN GEAR STRUT HAD FAILED AND THE AIRCRAFT HAD SKIDDED ON THE RIGHT MAIN GEAR WHICH HAD BECOME LODGED UNDER THE RIGHT FLAP, THUS REDUCING THE DAMAGE TO THE RIGHT WING. IT WAS NOTED THAT THE RIGHT MAIN GEAR PISTON TUBE (LOWER STRUT LEG) HAD BROKEN OFF AT A POINT THAT WOULD BE INSIDE THE UPPER STRUT HOUSING WHILE THE AIRCRAFT WAS ON THE GROUND. DAMAGE WAS LIMITED TO A PROP STRIKE ON THE RIGHT ENGINE, DAMAGE TO THE RIGHT FLAP, SCRAPING OF THE OUTBOARD AILERON HINGE AND RIGHT WINGTIP AS WELL AS THE FAILED RIGHT MAIN GEAR.A REVIEW OF THE MAINTENANCE RECORDS FOR THE SUBJECT AIRCRAFT REVEALED NO ANOMALIES OR HISTORY OF GEAR ISSUES. IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE GEAR WAS ALL ORIGINAL AND AS INSTALLED AT THE TIME OF PRODUCTION. A QUERY OF THE SDR DATA BASE REVEALED ONLY ONE OTHER REPORTED CASE OF SUCH A FAILURE, IN 1998, ON AN AIRCRAFT WITH A TOTAL TIME OF 8100 HRS. THE SUBJECT AIRCRAFT HAD 6284 HRS TT AT THE TIME OF THE FAILURE. THE SUBJECT AIRCRAFT IS MAINTAINED UNDER A FAA ACCEPTED PROGRESSIVE INSPECTION PROGRAM IAW 14 CFR PART 91.409(D) AND THE LAST LANDING GEAR DETAILED INSPECTION HAD BEEN COMPLETED ON DECEMBER 11, 2010 AT AN AIRFRAME TOTAL TIME OF 6136.5 HOURS, 147.5 HOURS PRIOR TO THE INCIDENT. A REVIEW OF THE REPAIR STATION TRAINING RECORDS REVEALED THAT THE TECHNICIAN AND INSPECTOR WHO PERFORMED THAT INSPECTION HAD BEEN TRAINED ON THE INSPECTION OF THE SEMINOLE LANDING GEAR. ON APRIL 9, 2010 AT AN AIRCRAFT TOTAL TIME OF 5600.3 HOURS, 683.7 HOURS PRIOR TO THE FAILURE, THE SUBJECT AIRCRAFT UNDERWENT A HARD LANDING INSPECTION OF THE GEAR. THIS INSPECTION PRODUCED NO FINDINGS AND THE REPAIR STATION PERSONNEL WHO PERFORMED THE INSPECTION HAD ALSO BEEN TRAINED ON THIS INSPECTION AS NOTED IN THE REPAIR STATION TRAINING RECORDS. IT WAS NOTED THAT THE INSPECTION CHECK LIST/PROCEDURES USED MIRRORS THAT OF THE PIPER INSPECTION CHECK LIST/PROCEDURES FOR THE HARD LANDING INSPECTION, HOWEVER, NEITHER THE PIPER NOR THE FLIGHT SCHOOL'S CHECK LIST/PROCEDURES INSTRUCTS THE PERSON(S) PERFORMING THE INSPECTION TO PLACE THE AIRCRAFT ON JACKS. WHEN QUESTIONED, REPAIR STATION PERSONNEL STATED THAT THEY DO, IN FACT, PLACE THE AIRCRAFT ON JACKS WHEN PERFORMING THE LANDING GEAR INSPECTION, ALTHOUGH IT IS NOT DOCUMENTED. IT WAS SUGGESTED THAT THE REPAIR STATION REVISE THEIR DOCUMENT TO INCLUDE THE INSTRUCTION TO PLACE THE AIRCRAFT ON JACKS AND TO DOCUMENT THAT IT IS ACCOMPLISHED. A SAFETY RECOMMENDATION WILL ALSO BE SUBMITTED TO REQUEST THAT PIPER ALSO ADD THE REQUIREMENT TO PLACE THE AIRCRAFT ON JACKS PRIOR TO THE HARD LANDING INSPECTION. From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.