20190920014529A

On September 20, 2019 at approximately 16:30 UTC. N895SF, a Cessna 208B, while on short final to the grass runway, runway 24 at Pepperell, MA (26MA), the airplane experienced a sudden increase in sink rate. The pilot was unable to arrest the sink rate even after power was applied because of the lag time for the airplane?s turbine engine to spool up. The airplane landed hard on the grass runway.

Witness marks left in the grass indicate the aircraft hit the grass runway on the right main landing gear and nose wheel before bouncing back into the air. The aircraft then touched down a second time approximately 95 feet from the initial touchdown point where the nose gear of the aircraft began to collapse. Witness marks left by the aircrafts propeller indicate the engine was developing power on landing. Once the nose gear collapsed the aircraft began to veer to the right.

Witness marks left by the aircraft?s main gear relative to the nose gear indicate the aircraft slid sideways with the nose turning toward the right. The aircraft crossed the paved runway at 26MA and the right wing tip impacted trees on the north side of the runway. Due to the aircraft?s right wingtip impacting the trees, the nose swung hard to the right and the left wingtip impacted the ground.

The aircraft came to rest approximately 370 feet from the aircraft initial touchdown point on an approximate 360° heading with the nose gear collapsed. A post-accident fire occurred when the aircraft hot exhaust encountered the dry leaves on the ground. The pilot and passenger exited the aircraft without injury and used the aircraft?s fire extinguisher to put the fire out.

The automated weather observation located at boire field airport (ash), approximately 5 nautical miles north of the accident location, reported that, about 34 minutes before the accident, the wind was from 320° at 7 knots, visibility of 10 statute miles, sky clear, temperature 23°c, dew point 08°c, and the altimeter setting of 30.17 inches of mercury.

The automated weather observation located at boire field airport (ash), approximately 5 nautical miles north of the accident location, reported that, about 26 minutes after the accident, the wind was variable at 3 knots, visibility of 10 statute miles, sky clear, temperature 24°c, dew point 09°c, and the altimeter setting of 30.15 inches of mercury.

The pilot estimated his final approach speed in the aircraft to be approximately 60-65 KIAS. While on short final, the pilot stated the aircraft controls became ineffective and the aircraft dropped out of the sky from an altitude of approximately 15 -20 feet. The pilot stated that he added power, but was unable to arrest the descent due to the lag of the turbine engine. The pilot stated the aircraft landed hard on his initial touch down on the grass runway then, the aircraft bounced back into the air. The pilot stated when the aircraft touched down the second time, the aircraft?s nose gear collapsed and the rest of the accident sequence was a blur until the aircraft came to a complete stop.