20170729015489I

Incident · Minor damage

FAA incident report · Beech A36 · Memphis, TN · July 29, 2017

Date: July 29, 2017 · 12:50 local
Place: Memphis, TN
Airport: General Dewitt Spain
Phase of flight: Landing: Touchdown
Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
Damage: Minor damage
Aircraft: N345D
Reported as: Beech A36
People aboard: 1
Fatal injuries: 0
Other injuries: 0
Pilot’s certificate: Private pilot
Pilot’s flight hours: 453 total53 in this make and model29 in the last 90 days

N345DRegistered now · Beech A36S/N E-2422 · Built 1988 Airframe modelBeech A36 Engine modelContinental IO-550 seriesReciprocating

From the FAA’s Accident/Incident Data System (AIDS), through its Aviation Safety Information Portal, as reported. The NTSB investigates accidents separately, and its record of an accident is the fuller one. The aircraft is matched to the registry 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.

What happened

The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.

Pilot attempted landing at General Dewitt Spain Airport at 1250 local time and struck the ground much harder than intended. This caused the nose gear wheel and tire assembly to break off and depart the aircraft. The pilot executed a go-around. Another aircraft that was in the area notified the pilot that his nose wheel was missing. The pilot decided for safety reasons to retract the landing gear and land with the gear up. This was due to the nose gear strut was still being attached to the aircraft and he did not want it to dig into the runway during landing.

As the FAA filed it

PILOT ATTEMPTED LANDING AT GENERAL DEWITT SPAIN AIRPORT AT 1250 LOCAL TIME AND STRUCK THE GROUND MUCH HARDER THAN INTENDED. THIS CAUSED THE NOSE GEAR WHEEL AND TIRE ASSEMBLY TO BREAK OFF AND DEPART THE AIRCRAFT. THE PILOT EXECUTED A GO-AROUND. ANOTHER AIRCRAFT THAT WAS IN THE AREA NOTIFIED THE PILOT THAT HIS NOSE WHEEL WAS MISSING. THE PILOT DECIDED FOR SAFETY REASONS TO RETRACT THE LANDING GEAR AND LAND WITH THE GEAR UP. THIS WAS DUE TO THE NOSE GEAR STRUT WAS STILL BEING ATTACHED TO THE AIRCRAFT AND HE DID NOT WANT IT TO DIG INTO THE RUNWAY DURING LANDING.