# Incident 20170412004339I: Piper PA-32-301, Alabaster, AL, April 12, 2017

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: April 12, 2017, 09:30 local time
- Place: Alabaster, AL
- Airport: Shelby County Airport
- Damage: Minor damage
- Phase of flight: Landing: Touchdown
- Operating rules: Air taxi and commuter (Part 135)
- Operator: 3LGA
- Location: 33.1778° N, 86.7832° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs at SHELBY COUNTY (EET), within about a mile (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=33.1778&lon=-86.7832&mi=10
- Aircraft: N608TM, registered now (https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N608TM) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Piper PA-32-301 (registry code 7103207, https://openairdocs.org/model/piper-pa-32-301) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: Lycoming IO-540 series (registry code 41530, https://openairdocs.org/engine/lycoming-io-540-series) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: PIPER PA-32-301
- Reported engine: LYCOMING IO-540 SER
- People aboard: 4
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Other injuries: 0
- Pilot certificates: Commercial pilot
- Pilot flight hours: 1,659 total, 1,503 in this make and model, 45 in the last 90 days
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20170412004339I

## Narrative

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

PIC STATED THAT HIS AIRSPEED DURING APPROACH TO LANDING WAS PRETTY HIGH. HE CUT THE POWER TO REDUCE AIR SPEED. AS SOON AS WHEN HE WAS IN THE WHITE ARC HE ADDED TWO NOTCHES OF FLAPS CAUSING THE AIRCRAFT TO BALLOON SLIGHTLY. HE CONTINUED TOWARD THE RUNWAY APPROXIMATELY 10 ? 15 KNOTS FASTER THAN THE NORMAL SPEED OF 90 ? 100 KNOTS.

AS HE CROSSED THE RUNWAY NUMBERS, THE AIRPLANE WAS STILL TOO FAST, AND TRYING TO SLOW DOWN HE ADDED THE 3RD NOTCH OF FLAPS, CAUSING THE PLANE TO BALLOON AGAIN. REALIZING THAT HE WAS GOING TO LAND LONG HE TRIED TO LOWER THE NOSE TO BRING THE PLANE DOWN. THE PLANE CONTINUED TO FLOAT AND THEN HIT THE NOSE WHEEL, APPROXIMATELY 1500 FEET FROM THE THRESHOLD. THE PLANE THEN BOUNCED INTO THE AIR AND THEN BEGAN TO PORPOISE AT LEAST 3 TIMES BEFORE FINALLY TOUCHING DOWN ON ALL THREE WHEELS. DURING THE LANDING EVENT, THE AIRCRAFT EXPERIENCED A NOSE GEAR TIRE BLOW OUT AND A PROP STRIKE.

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.

---
OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.
