20141019020619I

Incident · Minor damage

FAA incident report · Piper PA-23-160 · Beverly, MA · October 19, 2014

Date
October 19, 2014 · 16:00 local
Place
Beverly, MA
Airport
Beverly
Phase of flight
Landing: Rollout
Operating rules
General operating rules (Part 91)
Damage
Minor damage
Aircraft
N4462P
Reported as
Piper PA-23-160
Reported engine
Lycoming O&VO-360 series
People aboard
2
Fatal injuries
0
Other injuries
0

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.

Student & instructor were practicing landings. This landing was with the left engine power near idle to simulate an engine out. Upon landing and roll-out, the right main gear slowly began to collapse to the point that the aircraft started to slide on the right wing off into the grass. Both pilots reported that the gear indicated down (3 green) and the air traffic controller on duty reported that the gear appeared to be down, and that the landing was normal. After recovery and inspection the right main landing gear would not fully lock in place. Further investigation found support tubing on the landing gear that was slightly bent, not allowing the down limit or "j" lock to fully engage. A quarter turn was required on the extending push rod adjustment to engage the down limit switch and a full turn was required for the "j" lock to fully engage. It could not be determined if this condition was pre-existing, but appears to be the most likely cause with the available information. Note - the aircraft was substantially damaged in the recovery process, as it was dropped twice.

As the FAA filed it

STUDENT & INSTRUCTOR WERE PRACTICING LANDINGS. THIS LANDING WAS WITH THE LEFT ENGINE POWER NEAR IDLE TO SIMULATE AN ENGINE OUT. UPON LANDING AND ROLL-OUT, THE RIGHT MAIN GEAR SLOWLY BEGAN TO COLLAPSE TO THE POINT THAT THE AIRCRAFT STARTED TO SLIDE ON THE RIGHT WING OFF INTO THE GRASS. BOTH PILOTS REPORTED THAT THE GEAR INDICATED DOWN (3 GREEN) AND THE AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER ON DUTY REPORTED THAT THE GEAR APPEARED TO BE DOWN, AND THAT THE LANDING WAS NORMAL. AFTER RECOVERY AND INSPECTION THE RIGHT MAIN LANDING GEAR WOULD NOT FULLY LOCK IN PLACE. FURTHER INVESTIGATION FOUND SUPPORT TUBING ON THE LANDING GEAR THAT WAS SLIGHTLY BENT, NOT ALLOWING THE DOWN LIMIT OR "J" LOCK TO FULLY ENGAGE. A QUARTER TURN WAS REQUIRED ON THE EXTENDING PUSH ROD ADJUSTMENT TO ENGAGE THE DOWN LIMIT SWITCH AND A FULL TURN WAS REQUIRED FOR THE "J" LOCK TO FULLY ENGAGE. IT COULD NOT BE DETERMINED IF THIS CONDITION WAS PRE-EXISTING, BUT APPEARS TO BE THE MOST LIKELY CAUSE WITH THE AVAILABLE INFORMATION. NOTE - THE AIRCRAFT WAS SUBSTANTIALLY DAMAGED IN THE RECOVERY PROCESS, AS IT WAS DROPPED TWICE.