RICHMOND HEIGHT, OH, USA
N999MM
SWEARINGEN SA-226T
THE PILOT INITIATED THE ILS APPROACH TO RUNWAY 05, WHICH WAS COVERED WITH ICE AND SNOW. HE STATED THAT 'EVERYTHING LOOKED GOOD TO ME AT TOUCHDOWN.' THE AIRPLANE VEERED TO THE LEFT. HE SAID THAT IT MAY HAVE 'YAWED FIRST THEN SLID NOT SURE...' HE TRIED TO STEER THE AIRPLANE BACK TO THE RUNWAY CENTERLINE, BUT HE WAS UNABLE TO CONTROL THE DIRECTION. THE AIRPLANE 'MADE A VERY SHARP LEFT TURN [AND] LEFT THE RUNWAY.' THE NOSE WHEEL COLLAPSED WHEN IT ENCOUNTERED SOFT TERRAIN. THE PILOT REPORTED THE WIND WAS FROM 060 DEGREES AT 10 KNOTS.
On Monday, January 3, 1994, at 1927 eastern standard time, a Swearingen SA-226T, N999MM, registered to Planned Residential Communities, Inc., and piloted by Joseph Genna, sustained substantial damage during a landing at the Cuyahoga County Airport, Richmond Heights, Ohio. The pilot and passenger were not injured. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed, and an IFR flight plan had been filed. The flight was being conducted under 14 CFR 91. The pilot stated that he was advised by the control tower that the runway was icy and covered with snow, but that it had been sanded. He said that he saw runway 05 approximately 2 miles from touchdown. He stated, "Everything looked good to me at touchdown. [I] went to flight idle [and] at this time the [airplane] went to the left very rapidly." He tried to correct the left drift of the airplane, but he was unable to maintain the airplane on the runway. It departed the left side of the runway. The nose gear collapsed when the airplane collided with soft snow and terrain. The pilot reported that the winds were from 060 degrees at 10 knots. Mr. Robert Taylor, Principal Maintenance Inspector for the Federal Aviation Administration, examined the wreckage on January 4, 1994. In his report, Mr Taylor stated, "[The] nose section was buckled from the nose cone to the pressure bulkhead....The...bulkhead was badly buckled."
THE PILOT'S LOSS OF DIRECTIONAL CONTROL DURING LANDING, RESULTING IN A DEPARTURE FROM THE RUNWAY AND THE SUBSEQUENT ENCOUNTER WITH SOFT TERRAIN AND COLLAPSE OF THE NOSE GEAR. A FACTOR RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WAS THE ICY RUNWAY CONDITIONS.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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