20080324837649I

(-23) On March 24, 2008, a Saab 340-B operated by nsva as flt 6886 landed at bgm. The outboard first officer, while accomplishing his walk around inspection, discovered an approximately 3 inch wide hole in the right side of the forward fuselage. The first officer (fo) from flight 6886 told me that while they were descending into bgm at approximately 4000 feet and 200 knots he heard a thud coming from his right and behind him. All aircract indications were normal. He asked the captain if he heard that. The captain said yes and that it may have been the flight attendant (fa) putting the beverage cart away. The landing was normal and they taxied to parking without further incident. After the passengers were deplaned, the fa asked them if they heard that bang on descent. They stated yes and that they thought it was him putting the cart away. At that point, the outbound fo (which had just completed his walk around) came onboard and informed them that they had a hole in the right side of the fuselage. Two nsva mechanics arrived from abl and the aircraft was stowed into a hanger. When I left the aircraft, maintenance had gained access to the damage from the inside of the cabin. There was a hole through the skin of the aircraft but not through the side panel. No projectile was found at the damaged area. After looking at the damage to the fuselage, I inspected the damage to the prop. At that point I noticed two fasteners missing on the bottom, and one more in the right side of the "figure 8 cowling" (the cowling around the spinner and intake). The two at the bottom appeared to be missing their nut plates. The fo stated that when they arrived at the aircraft at iad, maintenance had the outboard cowling open on that engine. The aircraft was ferried to abl for repairs. This incident is considered closed.