20230320005569I

Incident · Minor damage

FAA incident report · Socata TBM 700 · Allentown, PA · March 20, 2023

Date
March 20, 2023 · 17:00 local
Place
Allentown, PA
Airport
Allentown
Phase of flight
Landing: Touchdown
Operating rules
General operating rules (Part 91)
Damage
Minor damage
Aircraft
N917BT
Reported as
Socata TBM 700
Reported engine
Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A66D
People aboard
2
Fatal injuries
0
Other injuries
0
Pilot’s certificate
Commercial pilot
Pilot’s flight hours
3,615 total84 in this make and model28 in the last 90 days

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.

Airman was conducting a landing on runway 24 at abe. According to the airman's statement he was at approximately 85 knots on short final and during the flare he recalls the stick shaker system activating and then the nose abruptly pitched down and the nose wheel struck the runway and the aircraft bounced at least twice according to surveillance video obtained from the airport terminal. Data supplied by the airman from the aircraft show that the aircraft proceeded from 50 feet above the runway for almost 20 seconds before the initial nose touchdown.

As the FAA filed it

AIRMAN WAS CONDUCTING A LANDING ON RUNWAY 24 AT ABE. ACCORDING TO THE AIRMAN'S STATEMENT HE WAS AT APPROXIMATELY 85 KNOTS ON SHORT FINAL AND DURING THE FLARE HE RECALLS THE STICK SHAKER SYSTEM ACTIVATING AND THEN THE NOSE ABRUPTLY PITCHED DOWN AND THE NOSE WHEEL STRUCK THE RUNWAY AND THE AIRCRAFT BOUNCED AT LEAST TWICE ACCORDING TO SURVEILLANCE VIDEO OBTAINED FROM THE AIRPORT TERMINAL. DATA SUPPLIED BY THE AIRMAN FROM THE AIRCRAFT SHOW THAT THE AIRCRAFT PROCEEDED FROM 50 FEET ABOVE THE RUNWAY FOR ALMOST 20 SECONDS BEFORE THE INITIAL NOSE TOUCHDOWN.