- Date
- August 3, 1989, 09:36 local (13:36 UTC)
- Place
- Atlanta, GA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N5509KConvair 640 (340D)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 11, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890803030349A
- Case key
- 7909
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
Pilot in command failed to place the airplane at a position from which a stabilized approach to landing could be made. His procedure for the recovery from the bounced landing was inadequate and the nose gear structural strength was exceeded during following touchdowns.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
During the descent to the outer marker for a visual approach with an ILS backup to runway 26R, the pilot in command did not descend to a point where a stabilized approach to landing could be completed. The airplane reportedly crossed the outer marker with a full scale fly down deflection on the ILS glide slope indicator. The pilot reported that he attained the glide slope from above when he was about one mile from the threshold. The airplane was flared for landing at an excessive altitude and touchdown was not made until at least 1,500 feet down the runway. The airplane touched down hard, bounced and on the second touchdown made runway contact with all three gears or possibly slightly nose gear first. The nose gear drag link fractured, the nose gear collapsed and the airplane came to a stop on its main gear and the fuselage nose.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5509K
- Reported as
- Convair 640 (340D)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 66
- Airframe hours
- 42,490
- Engine
- Rolls-Royce DART10MK542-4, 2,750 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 121
- Operator
- Zantop International
- Registered owner
- Zantop Int'L Airlines, Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Transport
- Last inspection
- Continuous airworthiness · July 19, 1989 · 48 hours before
- Departed
- YIP · Detroit, MI
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- ATL · Atlanta Hartsfield, runway 26R, 9,000 × 150 ft, concrete
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 44
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter, Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 7,404 total · 450 in this make and model · 105 in the last 90 days · 19 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 350° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 4 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 72 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ATL
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.