N42993 – PIPER PA-32-301 – 2015-02-02 NTSB Accident Report

On February 02, 2015, a Piper PA-32-301 (N42993) was involved in an incident near Valdosta, GA. All 4 people aboard were uninjured. The aircraft sustained substantial damage.

The National Transportation Safety Board determined the probable cause of this incident to be: The pilot's failure to compensate for gusty wind conditions during the landing flare, which resulted in a hard landing and subsequent nose landing gear collapse.

The pilot reported that he was landing the airplane in turbulent conditions with gusting wind. He stated that during the landing flare, the airplane encountered an updraft, followed immediately by a downdraft. The airplane subsequently impacted the runway and the nose landing gear collapsed, resulting in substantial damage to the engine firewall. The pilot reported there were no mechanical malfunctions or anomalies of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. Review of archived weather information for the accident airport about the time of the accident revealed variable wind at 9 knots with gusts to 19 knots.

This incident is documented in NTSB report ERA15CA117. AviatorDB cross-references NTSB investigation data with FAA registry records to provide comprehensive safety information for aircraft N42993.