PA-28 Cherokee/Archer/Dakota/Pillan/Warrior
Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Private
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 15; Flight Crew Total 340; Flight Crew Type 10
Confusion; Distraction; Situational Awareness; Training / Qualification
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Ground Event / Encounter Loss Of Aircraft Control; Ground Event / Encounter Object; Ground Excursion Runway
Aircraft Aircraft Damaged; Flight Crew Regained Aircraft Control
Aircraft
Pilot and a singe passenger were returning for a landing in VMC (winds light and variable); and cleared For landing by Tower. After what appeared to be a normal landing; on-centerline and during roll-out;(the plane was rolling below 30 kts); the aircraft unexpectedly began to pull to the right. The pilot attempted to correct using left rudder pressure and toe brake. The combination of left rudder pressure and left toe brake did not appear to exert sufficient braking authority or correct the turn. The aircraft seemed very slow to correct direction. The pilot continued with left rudder pressure and applied the handbrake. The plane immediately slowed; but rolled off the right side of the marked runway (and onto the apron) as the pilot was able to regain directional control. This was just past the first taxiway; where the underside of the right wing scraped the top edge of the taxiway sign. There did not appear to be any damage to the sign; but the bottom skin of the right wing was later found to be torn; in a line perpendicular to the leading edge; on the outboard side of the wing; about half-way to the from the front of the wing; and the skin tear exposed the bottom edge of the wing spar; which appeared to be nicked. Using the handbrake only from that point on; the pilot was able to return to the runway centerline and taxi the plane on the runway to the next taxiway and then navigate to parking with no further directional control problems. The incident was promptly reported and the plane was grounded for inspection and repair at visual inspection by a qualified A&P.It had been noted that on one prior flight that the plane had unexpectedly pulled to the right; but that the problem had been evaluated and resolved. On pre-flight taxi and takeoff during the flight on which the incident occurred; the plane did not appear to be pulling excessively to the right; so the pilot believed that the earlier squawk had been resolved; and the pilot decided to conduct the flight as planned. The pilot was well-rested; in good health; and alert during the flight. A potential distractor was that the oil access door on the cowling popped open on climb-out after takeoff (this resulted in the decision to return to land and correct the issue before continuing the flight). It is possible that this issue may have distracted the pilot. Also; the pilot may not have reacted quickly enough when the plane began pulling to the right on roll-out; and may not have transitioned quickly enough from applying the toe brake (which did not appear to be effective)to using the handbrake (which applied effective braking on both mains). Finally; as a final possible preventive action; the pilot might have elected to touch-down on the left side of the wide runway; anticipating the possibility of the plane pulling to the right.
PA28R pilot reported runway excursion on landing.