PA-44 Seminole/Turbo Seminole
Flight Crew Private; Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Commercial; Flight Crew Flight Instructor; Flight Crew Multiengine
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical; Ground Event / Encounter Ground Strike - Aircraft
Aircraft Aircraft Damaged; General Maintenance Action; General Flight Cancelled / Delayed; General Evacuated
Aircraft
A Piper PA-44 Seminole was performing traffic pattern operations when the left main landing gear sheared off during the takeoff ground roll. The aircraft sustained damage to the left main landing gear; the left propeller ground struck; the left flap was damaged; and other damage was noted to the pitot mast and com 2 antenna. The flight instructor and private pilot under instruction were uninjured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and the aircraft was operating under visual flight rules under a FAR Part 141 instructional flight. The instructor and student were on a VFR cross country training flight. They conducted the cross-country navigation; and began to enter the traffic pattern to complete the takeoffs and landings required by the lesson. The aircraft entered the pattern at Airport ZZZ and made a low approach to a go around procedure on Runway XY the first lap around. The aircraft then made left traffic for Runway XY and came back around for a short field approach and landing. The approach was stable and nothing abnormal was noted by the flight crew during the final approach and the aircraft touched down normally on the 2nd centerline stripe approximately 500 feet down Runway XY and came to a full and complete stop. The aircraft was repositioned on the centerline and brought to a stop to prepare for a short field takeoff with flaps set to 25 degrees. The throttles were at idle; flaps were raised from 40 degrees to 25 degrees as per the procedure; and the cowl flaps were opened while the aircraft was stationary. The aircraft brakes were held firmly; the throttles were set to full power and the instructor and student confirmed full power and that the engine gauges were operating normally. The student released the brakes and the aircraft started to roll when both the student and instructor began to notice the aircraft was shaking violently. At that time; the student was proceeding to abort the takeoff by pulling the throttles to idle as the instructor simultaneously began to pull the mixtures to idle. The student called ABORT; ABORT. At this time both the instructor and the student applied the brakes as the aircraft's left wing began to drop and the aircraft started to veer to the right. At this time the aircraft came to a stop as the left main landing gear had collapsed. The student and instructor simultaneously alerted the common traffic advisory frequency of a disabled aircraft on the runway and shut down the aircraft. The aircraft was then exited by the flight crew to inspect aircraft damage. Airport operations then met the flight crew and began to notify the appropriate agencies (FSDO; NTSB; local ARFF personnel). The flight crew notified dispatch via telephone; the Assistant Chief Flight Instructor and base manager; and maintenance. The aircraft was then lifted via a crane to a flatbed trailer and moved to a secluded area in a hanger. The aircraft was preflight by the student and then by the instructor. Close attention was paid to the landing gear with cotter pins; web plates; and struts; gear j-lock; up limit and down limit micro switches; and overall condition of the brake; tired; and gear door for fatigue; uneven wear; or signs of structural strength. Nothing abnormal was noted during the preflight by the student and instructor. As an instructor; I immediately thought it could have been a web plate or attachment bolts coming loose as seen in other accident/incident reports when learning about the landing gear; but have never seen or heard anything to relate to what actually happened. Initial thought when the aircraft was shaking violently was a flat tire; but given the post-incident inspection the tire appeared to be inflated ok so that was ruled out. Maybe less braking action during the aborted takeoff? I'm not sure about this as the aircraft was already at full power
Flight crew executed a normal short-field landing on Runway XY at Airport ZZZ. Nothing was abnormal about the landing; all the landing lights were indicated green and the landing was a normal touchdown; not too hard. The plane came to a full stop on the runway. Flaps were set from 45 degrees to 25 degrees per the standardization manual for a short field takeoff. The plane was on Runway XY at the 1000 foot markers. The brakes were held and engine throttles set in the full forward position. Pilot and Instructor confirmed full power. The brakes were released and takeoff role began. The student noticed that the instructor was reaching for the mixtures and the student began reducing the throttles and began to say abort three times. After stating abort the first time; the left wing dropped; hit the runway and the prop struck the runway several times before the engine came to a complete stop. This all happened less than a minute from the release of the brakes. Instructor and student got out of the aircraft; and saw the damage. The left main landing gear had collapsed backwards. The wheel was partial visible near behind the engine; the prop was bent and the flaps were almost torn off. Instructor called over the radio on that there was a disabled aircraft on the runway. Shortly after that; a pickup truck from the county airport commission and the airport fire department showed up. Several more pickup trucks showed up; airport operations closed the runway by putting giant X's on each end and eventually a crane came and lifted the airplane onto the trailer. They drove the truck and trailer into a hanger and roped off the entire truck and trailer.
A private pilot and multi-engine instructor in a PA-44 experienced a landing gear structural failure during takeoff roll.