# NTSB LAX07LA225: Piper PA-34-220T, N275JM, Battle Mountain, NV, July 22, 2007 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · Minor injuries · Limited investigation · Final report - Date: July 22, 2007, 16:45 local (23:45 UTC) - Place: Battle Mountain, NV - Coordinates: 40.5991666666667, -116.874444444444 - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=40.5992&lon=-116.8744&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Landing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/550) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Highest injury: Minor injuries - Injuries: 2 minor - Status: Completed, report March 31, 2008 - Report: Approved by Office Director - Parties: Federal Aviation Administration FSDO - NTSB case key (mKey): 66306 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=LAX07LA225 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/66306/pdf - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/LAX07LA225 ## Probable cause The pilot's failure to maintain directional control. ## Sequence of events In NTSB's coding before 2008 (https://www.ntsb.gov/GILS/Documents/codman.pdf). - Loss of control - on ground/water, landing - roll - directional control - not maintained, pilot in command (cause) - ground loop/swerve - not corrected, pilot in command (cause) - On ground/water encounter with terrain/water, landing - roll - terrain condition - berm ## Analysis After landing just beyond the runway threshold, the airplane yawed left and departed the runway, colliding with a berm. The airplane continued over the berm and came to rest just beyond, on the rising wall of a ditch. Post accident investigation revealed no discrepancies in the nose wheel steering system or braking system. The airplane came to rest approximately 3,200 feet from the pilot's reported touchdown point. A typical ground roll under the reported conditions was calculated to be approximately 2,350 feet. The main landing gear and nose gear tires exhibited flat spots and striations. Investigators inspected the nose gear of an exemplar Piper PA-34 airplane as it cycled in a retraction and extension sequence. The nose gear stayed centered throughout its travel and did not cant during the sequence until it was in the vicinity of the wheel well. ## Factual narrative HISTORY OF FLIGHT On July 22, 2007, about 1645 Pacific daylight time, a Piper PA-34-220T, N275JM, collided with a berm after veering off the runway at Battle Mountain Airport, Battle Mountain, Nevada. The pilot was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. The private pilot and one passenger sustained minor injuries; the airplane sustained substantial damage. The cross-country business flight departed French Valley Airport, Murrieta/Temecula, California, about 1320, with a planned destination of Battle Mountain. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan had been filed. The pilot submitted a written report. He stated that he had just canceled an IFR flight plan and was in the traffic pattern for a landing on runway 30. He landed the airplane just beyond the runway threshold, touching down just below 90 knots. He reported touching down first on the main landing gear with the nose gear touching after he had allowed the ground speed to dissipate. Approximately 5-7 seconds into the landing roll the plane felt 'wobbly' and thereafter performed an uncommanded left turn. The pilot attempted to compensate with braking to bring the airplane to the right but was unsuccessful. The airplane continued to yaw left, departed the left side of the runway, and collided with a berm. The airplane continued over the berm and came to rest just beyond the rising wall of a ditch. The pilot reported that on a previous occasion the left brake had locked, causing the airplane to depart the runway and receive a flat tire. He reported that this had occurred at 3-4 knots. METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS The closest official weather observation station was Winnemucca Municipal Airport (WMC), Winnemucca, Nevada, which was 46 nautical miles west of the accident site. The elevation of the weather observation station was 4,308 feet msl. An aviation routine weather report (METAR) for WMC was issued at 1656. It stated: winds from 260 degrees at 8 knots; visibility 10 miles; skies clear; temperature 37 degrees Celsius; dew point -2 degrees Celsius; altimeter 3003 inches of mercury. WRECKAGE AND IMPACT INFORMATION Runway 30 is 7,300 feet long and 100 feet wide. Photographs of the runway surface show three unequally spaced skid marks, beginning approximately 1,600 feet from the runway threshold. The skid marks start midway between the runway centerline and left edge. The markings continue beyond the left runway edge and through gravel to the site of the main wreckage approximately 3,200 feet from the threshold. Recovery personnel took photographs of the wreckage after the accident. Both propellers were separated by a fracture in the crankshaft, aft of the propeller flange, and lay partially submerged in the rising ditch wall, forward of the engines. The main landing gear folded rearward at the wing mounting points with both wheels lying beneath the wing flaps. The nose gear folded rearward at its forward mounting point and lay beneath the forward cabin area. TEST AND RESEARCH The pilot reported the airplane weight at the time of the accident to be 4,177 pounds. According to the flight manual, under the reported weather conditions, with the airplane configured with 40 degrees of flaps, a touchdown speed of 61 knots, and with maximum braking, the landing roll distance would have been approximately 2,325 feet. Safety Board investigators inspected the wreckage at a repair facility. No discrepancies were noted in the nosewheel steering system or braking system. The main landing gear and nose gear tires exhibited flat spots and striations. Investigators inspected the nose gear of an exemplar Piper PA-34 airplane. Inspectors raised the nose gear and observed that it stayed centered throughout its travel and did not cant during the sequence until it was in the vicinity of the wheel well. ## Aircraft - Registration: [N275JM](https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N275JM), registered now, S/N 34-8133221 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: Piper PA-34-220T - Registry model: [Piper PA-34-220T](https://openairdocs.org/model/piper-pa-34-220t) (registry code 7103420) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane - Serial number: 34-8133221 - Airframe hours: 4725 - Engines: Continental TSIO-360 220 horsepower reciprocating; Continental LTSIO-360 220 horsepower reciprocating - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Business, Part 91 - Registered owner: David A. Clinton - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal - Last inspection: Annual, March 1, 2007, 123 hours before - Departed: F70, French Valley, CA - Destination: BAM, BATTLE MOUNTAIN, NV - Flight plan: IFR - Airport: BAM, Battle Mountain, runway 30, 7,300 × 100 ft, asphalt ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 43; injuries: minor; private; airplane ratings: multi-engine land, single-engine land; instrument ratings: airplane; medical: class 3, without waivers/limitations; last flight review June 1, 2007; seat: left; flight hours: 324 total, 144 in this make and model, 172 as pilot in command, 91 in the last 90 days, 22 in the last 30 days, 6 in the last 24 hours ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day - Wind: 260° at 8 knots - Visibility: 10 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: none - Temperature: 99 °F, dew point 28 °F - Altimeter: 30.03 inHg - Observed at: WMC, 46 nm away ## FAA reports on this event (1) The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 20070722021199A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20070722021199A), Jul 22, 2007: Piper PA34200T, Battle Mountai, NV, Substantial damage. (-23) The aircraft touched down ruway 20 and rolled out. Shortly therafter, the aircraft uncontrollably yawed left and departed the left side of the runway.… From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.