N728A

On August 3, 2021, about 1115 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-28-181, N728A, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Jeffersonville, Indiana. The flight instructor and student pilot were not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 instructional flight.

The flight instructor reported that they were performing takeoff and landing practice and that the accident occurred on the sixth landing of the flight. He noted that the approach and landing were normal, with the airplane touching down on the main landing gear with the engine at idle. The airplane was slightly left of centerline and began drifting toward the right. The student and flight instructor both attempted to correct for the right drift without success, and the airplane continued off the right side of the runway. The right main landing gear impacted a runway light and separated from the airplane. The airplane incurred substantial damage to the right wing and fuselage.

Photos of the runway light indicated that the concrete base was about 1 inch above the surrounding ground, and the light stanchion was a small pipe threaded into a flange base. The pipe broke at the threads at the flanged base.

Examination of the airplane revealed that the landing gear leg was intact and the bolts and screws securing it to the wing main spar had fractured. The landing gear is attached to the main wing spar by four screws securing it to the top spar cap, and four bolts securing it to the bottom spar cap. Four fragments from three bolts were recovered for examination. The recovered bolt remnants were examined at the NTSB Material Laboratory and exhibited fracture features consistent with overstress.

The airplane manufacturer relayed information of several aircraft that had broken or corroded landing gear attachment bolts discovered during maintenance, and one that resulted in separation of the landing gear during landing roll. On March 31, 2022, the manufacturer issued Piper Service Bulletin 1375, requiring replacement of landing gear attachment hardware on select Piper model PA28 and PA32 airplanes.