- Date
- May 5, 1989, 23:07 local (May 6, 1989, 03:07 UTC)
- Place
- Miami, FL
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N859SCPiper PA-34-200T
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/bright
- Status
- Completed · report June 19, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890505038809I
- Case key
- 32330
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the incident.
On this page
Probable cause
Fatigue failure of the left main landing gear trunnion. A contributing factor was: inadequate inspection procedure in Piper service bulletin #787A.
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 rprtd that after the acft had touched down & rolled aprx 400 to 600 ft, the left main gear collapsed & the acft veered off the left side of the rwy. An investigation revealed the left main landing gear trunnion had failed from fatigue. The failure occurred thru the barrel next to the lower end of the fillet. A metallurgical exam showed the fatigue had originated at the base of a grinding mark. Several secondary cracks were also found which originated from grinding marks next to the fatigue fracture. The airplane logbook showed the trunnion had been inspected at the last 100 hr inspection iaw Piper service bulletin (s/b) #787A. The acft had flown about 80 hrs since that inspection. The s/b requirment was to 'properly clean the trunnion housing of dirt and paint and carefully inspect the housing for cracks with a 10 power glass at the lower end of the fillet.'
Aircraft
- Registration
- N859SC
- Reported as
- Piper PA-34-200T
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 34-8070303
- Airframe hours
- 2,323
- Engine
- Continental L/TSIO-360, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Part 135
- Operator
- Gulf Flight Center
- Registered owner
- Dolphin Aviation, Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · March 26, 1989 · 80 hours before
- Departed
- SRQ · Sarasota, FL
- Airport
- MIA · Miami Intl, runway 9L, 10,500 × 200 ft, asphalt
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
- 56
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 3,136 total · 564 in this make and model · 2,834 as pilot in command · 217 in the last 90 days · 84 in the last 30 days · 6 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/bright
- Wind
- 160° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 73 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- MIA
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.