20240407005349A

On 7 April 2024, at 1520(z) the FAA received notice regarding an accident in Ellington, Connecticut, a Cessna 208 landed on a berm short of runway 01 for unknown reasons. 7 persons on board, no injuries, and aircraft damage extent unknown. This FAA federal aviation administration (FAA) iic (investigator in charge) and an additional ASI (aviation safety inspector) arrived at the accident scene at Ellington Airport (7B9) at 12:52 local time. The initial scene had a state police trooper monitoring a secured area.

A cursory examination of the accident area and aircraft by FAA personnel was conducted at this time. The aircraft was in the grass strip between the runway and the taxi/parking area, 12 feet from the right edge of the runway pavement, and 58 feet from the beginning of runway 01. The aircraft was noted to be largely intact, and was pointing at a heading of approximately 46 degrees. There was no evidence of pre- or post-impact fire. The lower nose area of the aircraft was partially dug into the ground, with moderate damage to the lower nose fairing section, exhaust, gear trunnion, and propeller. The nose gear assembly was not attached, with no other obvious aircraft structures or components missing. All three propeller blades tips were bent rearwards, in a counterclockwise direction, (from PIC perspective) indicative of rotation when the blades contacted. The lower nose gear assembly was located in the grass on the left side of the runway, approximately 43FT away from the aircraft in a west-southwest direction. It had severe piston/cylinder damage, with the and tire and rim still intact.

The runway directly south along the impact path had soil and rock debris throughout, along with scrape marks leading to the accident scene. Leading away from the runway into the grass in a southerly direction, furrowed soil, additional nose gear parts and a line of 11 prop strike marks, approximately 12 inches on center were noted. Further south was noted a gulley with a stream at the bottom, running roughly east/west. Continuing south into a field was a berm roughly 3 feet high, adjacent to the south side of the stream, running roughly east/west and perpendicular to the runway direction. Impact marks were noted on the southern side of the berm from all three landing gear. Directly south of the berm, tire marks were noted in the field indicative of all three gear contacting the ground, and were measured at 106 feet before the beginning of the runway. (As measured from the farthest main landing gear mark.)

Multiple passengers interviewed stated they heard a stall alarm just before or during the impact/touchdown. One passenger stated that they could tell the approach was lower than previous flights because of the location of the southern tree line branches, as seen through the window in the aft of the aircraft. The PIC stated he was flying the accident aircraft when he “came up landing short of the runway, breaking the main landing gear.”