20220305003249I

Incident · Minor damage

FAA incident report · Piper PA-46-600TP · Merced, CA · March 5, 2022

Date
March 5, 2022 · 17:45 local
Place
Merced, CA
Airport
Merced Regional Airport
Phase of flight
Landing: Rollout
Operating rules
General operating rules (Part 91)
Damage
Minor damage
Aircraft
N672WA
Reported as
Piper PA-46-600TP
Reported engine
Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-42A
People aboard
3
Fatal injuries
0
Other injuries
0
Pilot’s certificate
Private pilot
Pilot’s flight hours
811 total

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.

On March 5, 2022 N762WA landed on runway 30 at kmce. Upon touchdown pilot states that the aircraft veered to the right and did not respond to rudder input. The aircraft subsequently departed the paved surface and encountered very tall grass on north side of the runway. The nose gear collapsed when it encountered the rough unpaved surface. This led to damage to the propeller and ingestion of grass into the engine. A small fire ensued. Local law enforcement arrived to secure the area. The aircraft was towed to the pilot's hangar.

This incident does not appear to be the result of pilot error.

As the FAA filed it

ON MARCH 5, 2022 N762WA LANDED ON RUNWAY 30 AT KMCE. UPON TOUCHDOWN PILOT STATES THAT THE AIRCRAFT VEERED TO THE RIGHT AND DID NOT RESPOND TO RUDDER INPUT. THE AIRCRAFT SUBSEQUENTLY DEPARTED THE PAVED SURFACE AND ENCOUNTERED VERY TALL GRASS ON NORTH SIDE OF THE RUNWAY. THE NOSE GEAR COLLAPSED WHEN IT ENCOUNTERED THE ROUGH UNPAVED SURFACE. THIS LED TO DAMAGE TO THE PROPELLER AND INGESTION OF GRASS INTO THE ENGINE. A SMALL FIRE ENSUED. LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT ARRIVED TO SECURE THE AREA. THE AIRCRAFT WAS TOWED TO THE PILOT'S HANGAR.

THIS INCIDENT DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE THE RESULT OF PILOT ERROR.