- Date
- December 6, 1992, 12:45 local (17:45 UTC)
- Place
- Jaffrey, NH
- Injuries
- 2 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N3017PPiper PA-32RT-301T
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dawn
- Status
- Completed · report August 26, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19921206049279A
- Case key
- 37272
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
An improper weld by other maintenance personnel which resulted in the nose gear collapsing, and a loss of directional control on takeoff.
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
During the takeoff roll, the airplane swerved uncontrollably to the left, departed the runway and went down an embankment. Post accident investigation disclosed a fracture of the nose landing gear strut where it attaches to the engine mount. The nose landing gear partially collapsed and directional control was not possible. The fracture area had been welded as part of repair to the engine mount during an annual inspection. According to a NTSB metallurgical report about the weld, '...examination of the fracture revealed numerous weld defects such as poor fusion, excessive porosity and voids....' In addition, the metal in the weld area was found to be significantly softer than the surrounding metal.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3017P
- Reported as
- Piper PA-32RT-301T (PA-32RT-30)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 32R-7987103
- Airframe hours
- 1,132
- Engine
- Lycoming TIO-540-S1AD, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Carl T. Matuszko
- Registered owner
- Carl T. Matuszko
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 16, 1992 · 32 hours before
- Departed
- AFN
- Destination
- 7B2 · Northampton, MA
- Airport
- AFN · Jaffrey Municipal, runway 34, 2,982 × 50 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
- 63
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 549 total · 216 in this make and model · 497 as pilot in command · 22 in the last 90 days · 14 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dawn
- Wind
- 320° at 8 knots, gusting 12
- Visibility
- 25 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 30 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.