N7054W

On April 18, 1995, about 1044 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-28-180, registered to Kenneth K. Snyder, operating as a 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight, veered off the runway on landing at Page Field, Fort Myers, Florida. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The airplane sustained substantial damage. The private pilot and two passengers were not injured. The flight originated from Buchan Airport, Sarasota, Florida, about 30 minutes before the accident.

The pilot stated he made a normal landing on runway 13. On landing rollout the airplane started to porpoise. He applied aft pressure on the control yoke to take the weight off the nose gear, and informed his passengers of the situation. He applied rudder, exited the runway onto the grass, and came to a complete stop.

An air traffic controller who witnessed the accident, stated she observed the airplane on approach for landing to runway 13. The airplane was slow, with a fast sink rate. She was not sure if the airplane touched down on all three wheels the first time, or if it hit on the nose wheel first. The airplane bounced, landed hard, bounced, landed hard again, and slide off the right side of the runway.

Mr. Sean Capper, a flight instructor, stated he was the last pilot to fly the airplane the day before the accident. When he returned from the flight there was no indication of any mechanical problems with the airplane. He further stated, he was present when the pilot conducted his preflight inspection of the airplane before departing on the flight, and nothing was wrong with the airplane.

Examination of the airplane after the accident by the Director of Maintenance, Fort Myers Jet Center, revealed the nose gear assembly was bent backwards about 30 degrees. The engine mount and nose gear dynafocal mount was damaged, and the firewall was buckled in several places.