20131205026049I

Incident · Minor damage

FAA incident report · Mooney M22 · Prescott, AZ · December 5, 2013

Date
December 5, 2013 · 14:15 local
Place
Prescott, AZ
Airport
Earnest A. Love Field
Phase of flight
Landing: Rollout
Operating rules
General operating rules (Part 91)
Damage
Minor damage
Aircraft
N7712M
Reported as
Mooney M22
Reported engine
Lycoming TI0-541 series
People aboard
2
Fatal injuries
0
Other injuries
0
Pilot’s certificate
Commercial pilot
Pilot’s flight hours
6,000 total20 in this make and model9 in the last 90 days

From the FAA’s Accident/Incident Data System (AIDS), through its Aviation Safety Information Portal, as reported. The NTSB investigates accidents separately, and its record of an accident is the fuller one. The aircraft is matched to the registry 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.

What happened

The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.

Pilot was going to reposition his aircraft from the home base of Prescott (prc) to las cruces (lru) to have a new interior put in the aircraft. Approximately two hours later the aircraft returned to Prescott because the pilot had encountered deteriorating weather along his route. After touching down and during the landing roll the nose wheel collapsed. The aircraft came to rest on the center line of the runway. Upon inspection it was discovered the sealed interior portion of the torque tube assembly on the nose gear had experienced exstensive wear over time causing the nose wheel assembly to unlock unexectedly and collapse on landing rollout.

As the FAA filed it

PILOT WAS GOING TO REPOSITION HIS AIRCRAFT FROM THE HOME BASE OF PRESCOTT (PRC) TO LAS CRUCES (LRU) TO HAVE A NEW INTERIOR PUT IN THE AIRCRAFT. APPROXIMATELY TWO HOURS LATER THE AIRCRAFT RETURNED TO PRESCOTT BECAUSE THE PILOT HAD ENCOUNTERED DETERIORATING WEATHER ALONG HIS ROUTE. AFTER TOUCHING DOWN AND DURING THE LANDING ROLL THE NOSE WHEEL COLLAPSED. THE AIRCRAFT CAME TO REST ON THE CENTER LINE OF THE RUNWAY. UPON INSPECTION IT WAS DISCOVERED THE SEALED INTERIOR PORTION OF THE TORQUE TUBE ASSEMBLY ON THE NOSE GEAR HAD EXPERIENCED EXSTENSIVE WEAR OVER TIME CAUSING THE NOSE WHEEL ASSEMBLY TO UNLOCK UNEXECTEDLY AND COLLAPSE ON LANDING ROLLOUT.