# Incident 19990903025019I: Piper PA34200T, Middlesboro, KY, September 3, 1999

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: September 3, 1999, 19:40 local time
- Place: Middlesboro, KY
- Airport: Middlesboro-Bell County Airport
- Damage: Minor damage
- Phase of flight: Final Approach
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 36.6103° N, 83.7373° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs at MIDDLESBORO/BELL COUNTY (1A6), within about a mile (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=36.6103&lon=-83.7373&mi=10
- Aircraft: N78RK, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N78RK-2010-09-03) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Piper PA-34-200T (registry code 7103406, https://openairdocs.org/model/piper-pa-34-200t) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: Continental TSIO-360 series (registry code 17019, https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-tsio-360-series) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: PIPER PA34200T
- Reported engine: CONT TSIO360E
- People aboard: 2
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Pilot flight hours: 1,068 total, 708 in this make and model, 17 in the last 90 days
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/19990903025019I

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

ON SEPTEMBER 3, 1999, AT APPROXIMATELY 1940 EDT, A PIPER PA-34-200T, N78RK, SUSTAINED MINOR DAMAGE AS A RESULT OF A HARD LANDING AT THE MIDDLESBORO-BELL COUNTY AIRPORT, MIDDLESBORO, KY. THE AIRPLANE WAS OPERATED UNDER DAY VFR, 14 CFR 91, BY AN APPROPRIATELY RATED COMMERCIAL PILOT. THE FLIGHT ORIGINATED FROM KNOXVILLE, TN, WITH ONE PASSENGER ABOARD. THE PILOT STATED TO THE FAA IIC THAT HE WAS APPROACHING TO LAND ON RUNWAY 28 INTO A BRIGHT SUNSET. THE PILOT STATED THAT HE HAD DIFFICULTY SEEING THE RUNWAY THUS, LANDED SHORT OF THE RUNWAY ON THE NOSE WHEEL FIRST. THE NOSE LANDING GEAR COLLAPSED ON IMPACT. THE AIRCRAFT THEN SLID ABOUT 200 FEET BEFORE COMING TO A REST ON THE RUNWAY. DAMAGE WAS CONTAINED TO THE UNDERSIDE OF THE NOSE CONE, NOSE GEAR, AND BOTH ENGINE PROPELLERS. THERE WAS NO POST CRACH FIRE, OR INJURIES TO THE PILOT AND PASSENGER. WEATHER CONDITIONS AT LONDON, KY, TWENTY-FIVE MILES NORTHEAST OF MIDDLESBORO, INDICATED WINDS NORTHEAST AT 5 KNOTS, VISIBILITY 10 MILES, AND NO CEILING. NOTHING FOLLOWS.

From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record.

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