DFW07LA021

On October 31, 2006, about 1400 central standard time, a Piper PA32-301XTC single-engine airplane, N506C, was substantially damaged during a hard landing at the San Marcos Municipal Airport (HYI), near San Marcos, Texas. The private pilot and his passenger were not injured. The airplane was registered to a private corporation and operated by the pilot. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan was filed for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The 303-nautical mile cross-country flight originated from the Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport (LBB), near Lubbock, Texas, at 1200.

According to the 735-hour pilot, while landing on Runway 26 (a 6,330-foot long by 100-foot wide asphalt runway), everything appeared "normal" until the nose landing gear touched down to the runway. The pilot reported that when the nose landing gear contacted the runway "it felt like I had hit something" and the airplane bounced back into the air. The airplane came down on the main landing gear a "couple more times" before the pilot added a "small amount" of engine power in order to "have more control of the airplane." The pilot continued that when the nose landing gear finally settled to the runway due to the loss of airspeed, the airplane's nose went straight to the ground onto the propeller.

The pilot further reported that for the past year the nose landing gear had a tendency to be off center when landing. The pilot added that this would require him to make an immediate steering correction when the nose landing gear would touch down. After progressively getting worse, the pilot had "mechanics" examine the nose landing gear. According to the pilot, the mechanics did not find anything wrong; however, the problem continued.

An eyewitness, who reported to be a pilot on the airport ramp, observed the airplane's landing mishap. According to the witness, "upon touchdown, the aircraft began to porpoise down the runway, approximately six times, with increasing height at each bounce. The last bounce resulted in the aircraft descending from a height of what appeared to me to be approximately six feet, and striking the propeller and collapsing the nose gear."

A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector and a representative from The New Piper Aircraft Company examined the airplane. The examination revealed that the engine firewall and lower fuselage skin had sustained structural damage. The nose gear was found broken and bent aft. The nose gear centering springs were found attached in their respective positions. The rudder pedals were functionally checked and continuity was established from the rudder pedals to the steering rods and rudder. According to the FAA inspector and the Piper representative, no pre-impact anomalies were noted during the examination with the airplane's flight controls, nose landing gear assembly or steering mechanism.

The pilot reported that at the time of the accident the wind was from 250 degrees at 6 knots.