N901BW

On June 5, 2022, about 1135 central daylight time, a Piper PA-32R-300 airplane, N901BW, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Gettysburg, South Dakota. The pilot and passenger were not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight.

The pilot reported that the landing was “harder than normal” but otherwise uneventful. The airplane slowed in the middle of the runway; however, about 2,000 ft down the runway, the nose landing gear collapsed.

The forward end of the engine mount provided attachment of the nose landing gear trunnion assembly. Examination of the fractured engine mount revealed that the right attachment foot was separated from the mount. The outboard side of the fracture surface was smeared consistent with postseparation contact from the mating side of the fracture surface. The inboard side of the fracture was through the fillet weld joints where the upper tube and inboard tube interfaced with the attachment foot and transitioned through the tubes around to the outboard side

Further examination with a scanning electron microscope revealed circular and elongated dimple features consistent with tensile and shear overstress fracture. The tube fractures had a matte grey appearance and were generally oriented at 45° to the support tube longitudinal axes, consistent with overstress fracture. The deformation of the left trunnion assembly bolt and the smearing pattern on the fractured engine mount were consistent with the overstress fracture originating at the inboard side of the attachment foot weld joint and a generally outboard and slightly downward separation. The bent trunnion assembly attachment bolts were consistent with a large load through the nose landing gear before the engine mount fracture.