Piper Aircraft Inc PA46R-350T N488EA accident near Cameron Park, California

Probable cause

The fatigue failure of the nose landing gear actuator attach foot during the landing roll. Contributing to the accident was the non-compliance with the manufacturer’s service bulletin.

NTSB analysis

During the landing roll after a normal touchdown, the nose landing gear collapsed, and the airplane departed the side of the runway. The investigation determined that the gear collapse was the result of the fatigue failure of the right side nose gear actuator attach foot, which then separated from the engine mount. Records showed that the accident airplane had been flown more than 300 hours since its most recent compliance with the Piper Aircraft service bulletin (SB) 1103D, which calls for the inspection of this specific area for cracks every 100 hours. Although Piper Aircraft Company considers its service bulletins to be mandatory actions, the Federal Aviation Administration does not require that service bulletins be complied with for aircraft that are used exclusively for 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 operations, as this airplane was. Therefore, neither the owner of the airplane nor the maintenance personnel who performed annual inspections on the airplane were required to ensure compliance with SB 1103D. Failure to comply with SB 1103D could result in the nondetection of fatigue cracks that would eventually lead to the failure of a component of the engine mount/gear support assembly, as occurred in this accident.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for WPR12LA261 for the full record.