# Incident 20200131003989I: Socata TBM 700, Fergus Falls, MN, January 31, 2020

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: January 31, 2020, 13:15 local time
- Place: Fergus Falls, MN
- Airport: Fergus Falls Municipal
- Damage: Minor damage
- Phase of flight: Landing: Touchdown
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 46.2844° N, 96.1567° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs at FERGUS FALLS RGNL (FFM), within about a mile (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=46.2844&lon=-96.1567&mi=10
- Aircraft: N904EA, registered now (https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N904EA) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Socata TBM 700 (registry code 8682000, https://openairdocs.org/model/socata-tbm-700) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A66D (registry code 52069, https://openairdocs.org/engine/pratt-whitney-canada-pt6a66d) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: SOCATA TBM 700
- Reported engine: P&W CANADA PT6A66D
- People aboard: 1
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Other injuries: 0
- Pilot certificates: Commercial pilot
- Pilot flight hours: 10,000 total, 485 in this make and model, 40 in the last 90 days
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20200131003989I

## Narrative

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

N904EA OFF RUNWAY LANDING 31JAN2020 FERGUS FALLS, MN, KFFM

REVIEW OF FLIGHT; FLIGHT WAS FROM DIKINSON, N.D. KDIK TO FERGUS FALLS, MN. KFFM

IT WAS AN IFR FLIGHT PLAN, THE PILOT HAD BEEN WATCHING THE WEATHER ALL MORNING AT FERGUS FALLS AND FARGO FOR AN ALTERNATE.  ARRIVING AT KFFM THE ASOS WAS REPORTING 2.5 SM 1600 FT WITH WINDS OUT OF THE SOUTH.  PILOT REQUESTED RNAV/GPS 13 APPROACH.  PIC MADE A CALL ON UNICOM TO WHICH THE FBO RESPONDED THERE IS 1/2 INCH OF SNOW ON TOP OF WHAT IS BELIEVED TO BE A GLARE ICE RUNWAY.  PIC HAD TALKED TO AIRPORT MANAGER THE NIGHT BEFORE AND WAS TOLD OF THE SNOW ON RUNWAY, BUT DID FIGURE BY 1300 LOCAL THEY WOULD HAVE PLOWED THE RUNWAY.  PIC CONTINUED THE APPROACH, NOT BREAKING OUT UNTIL ABOUT 600 FT AT WHICH TIME HE SAW SOME GEESE AND TOOK A HARD LEFT, THEN GOT BACK ON HIS VISUAL.  THE TBM ONLY HEATS PART OF THE WINDSHIELD SO HE DID NOT HAVE FULL FORWARD VISIBILITY.  AS HE LOOKED HE SAW A BARE SPOT, FIGURED IT WAS PART OF THE RUNWAY, AND THERE WAS A ROW OF LIGHTS TO THE RIGHT OF IT, SO HIS TARGET WAS THE BARE SPOT AND KEEP THE ROW OF LIGHTS TO HIS RIGHT, HE WAS LOCKED IN AND FIXATED ON IT VISUALLY, HE DID NOT CROSS CHECK HIS INSTRUMENTS.  LANDING SEEMED ABOUT NORMAL UNTIL HE LOWERED THE NOSE THEN THE AIRPLANE CAME TO AN ABRUPT STOP.  ENGINE WAS STILL RUNNING, PIC SHUTDOWN AND GOT OUT UNINJURED.

THE AIRCRAFT WAS ABOUT 30 FT LEFT/EAST OF RUNWAY 13 AND 290 FT NORTH OF TAXIWAY BRAVO.  THE PIC STATED THAT THE BARE SPOTS HE WAS FIXATED ON WERE WHERE THE PLOW HAD PUSHED SNOW OFF THE RUNWAY BACK INTO THE GRASS, THEY WERE DARK GRASS SPOTS.  PIC NEVER SAW THE PAPIS, ASI STATED THEY PROBABLY WENT RIGHT UNDER THE AIRPLANE LOOKING AT THE LINEUP AND LANDING POSITION.  THE AIRCRAFT WAS TAKEN APART AND CRATED BACK TO SOCATA IN FLORIDA WHERE IT IS EXPECTED TO BE RETURNED TO SERVICE IN MAY.  MAIN GEAR DOORS, PROP STRIKE, NOSE GEAR AND ASSEMBLY, AND AVIONICS BAY HAD DAMAGE DEEMED MINOR.

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.