MARCH 26, 2015
DORVAL, QUEBEC
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) today
released its investigation report (A14Q0011) into the runway excursion of a
Piper Malibu Mirage aircraft in Alma, Quebec.
On 23 January 2014, a privately operated Piper Malibu Mirage
aircraft departed Montréal International (Mirabel) Airport for Alma, Quebec,
with a pilot and one passenger on board. The flight was uneventful until the
landing when the nose wheel contacted the runway and directional control was
lost. The aircraft veered left and departed the runway surface 400 feet after
the loss of control. The aircraft came to a stop about 100 feet from the runway
edge in a compacted snow bank. There were no injuries. The aircraft was
substantially damaged.
During the approach, the pilot selected the landing gear
down and was provided with an indication in the cockpit that all three landing
gears were down and locked. However, the nose gear was not fully down and locked,
so the unaware pilot continued with the landing. This accident sequence is
consistent with an equipment failure. The part that failed was the landing gear
component of the engine mount. It prevented the nose gear from extending fully
forward.
The investigation revealed that the right-side nose landing
gear component of the engine mount fractured mainly in overstress from a
pre-existing fatigue crack. The inspection criteria dictated an examination at
740 flying hours; however, that type of crack may appear before the original
scheduled inspection period. On 5 June 2014, Piper Aircraft issued Service
Bulletin (SB 1103E) changing the inspection period to 200 hours. The
investigation noted that if the requirements prescribed in SB 1103E are not
made mandatory for private operators in Canada, there is a continued risk that
fatigue cracks may not be discovered in a timely manner.