Piaggio P180 N139SL incident near Clearwater, Florida

Probable cause

The failure of the nose landing gear steering manifold during landing, which resulted in an uncommanded and uncontrollable right turn, and the overhaul facility’s improper overhaul of the nose landing gear steering manifold.

NTSB analysis

During landing, the nosewheel touched down, and the pilot heard the tire "squeal" and then felt the airplane gradually veer right. The pilot attempted to correct the turn by applying left rudder, left braking, and left-engine reverse thrust. The airplane came to a stop with the nose pointed more than 90 degrees right of the runway centerline. Examination of the nose landing gear steering manifold revealed that it had recently been overhauled but that the overhaul was not conducted in accordance with the manufacturer's component maintenance manual (CMM); the overhaul facility used unapproved alternative tooling because it did not have the required tooling to conduct the overhaul as specified in the CMM. The nose landing gear steering manifold exhibited internal damage consistent with metal tooling marks that resulted from the use of improper tooling during the overhaul and led to the failure of the nose landing gear steering manifold during landing.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for CEN13IA270 for the full record.