- Date
- February 11, 1983, 12:36 local (18:36 UTC)
- Place
- Houston, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N111PTSwearingen SA-26T
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19830211003529A
- Case key
- 20803
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The plt reported that after the nosewheel touched down, it began a violent & uncontrollable oscillation, then locked aprx 25 deg to the left. The acft veered off the left side of the runway, crossed an area of soft ground and angled across a taxiway. After crossing the taxiway, it entered another area of soft dirt where the nose gear separated. After coming to rest, the propellers dug holes in the soft ground before the engines were shut down. An investigation revealed the tires left black scrub marks (800 ft long) before the acft departed the runway. Low air pressure was found in the nose gear strut and shimmy damper. According to a representative from the manufacturer, this low pressure could cause the nose gear to shimmy. Propeller strike marks in the first area of soft ground indicated the ground speed was 82 KTS where they first contacted the ground.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N111PT
- Reported as
- Swearingen SA-26T
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15
- Airframe hours
- 5,027
- Engine
- P&W PT6A-20, turbo prop
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Herring Aircraft Venture
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- LRD · Laredo, TX
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- HOU · Hobby, runway 13L, 7,600 × 150 ft, concrete
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 49
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 9,455 total · 1,035 in this make and model · 9,200 as pilot in command · 135 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 70° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 2,500 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 57 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- HOU
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.