NTSB Factual Report

On March 2, 2004, at 1120 central daylight time, a Piper PA-46-350P, N91734, registered to and operated by a private pilot, nose gear collapsed during a landing on runway 28 at the Montgomery Regional Airport in Montgomery, Alabama. The personal flight operated under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91 with no flight plan filed. Visual weather conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The private pilot was not injured, and the airplane sustained substantial damage. The flight departed Montgomery Regional Airport at 1040.

The pilot landed on runway 28 with a crosswind from the left. After touchdown, the airplane yawed to the left. The pilot stated that he started correcting for the yaw but the correction felt to be too strong for the airplane to handle. The pilot allowed the airplane to drift to the left, eventually departing the runway on the left side onto the grass. Twenty yards from the runway, the nose gear dug into the soft grass and collapsed.

Examination of the airplane revealed the nose gear had collapsed, the propeller assembly was broken, and there was damage to the engine compartment firewall. The right main landing gear and the right wing tip were also bent. The nose gear trunnion was sent to the NTSB Materials Laboratory for a fracture analysis. The trunnion from the nose gear assembly was examined and the fracture faces contained no evidence of a fatigue crack or other preexisting condition leading to the fracture.

According to the pilot's handbook the, the demonstrated crosswind component for the Piper PA-46-350P is 17 knots. The reported surface winds at the time of the accident were 200 degrees at 10 knots. The pilot's had accumulated a total of 1300 hours in the PA-46.

NTSB Probable Cause

The pilot's inadequate compensation for wind and his failure to maintain directional control during landing roll that resulted in the collapse of the nose gear. The crosswind was a contributing factor.