- Date
- June 21, 1994, 09:00 local (13:00 UTC)
- Place
- Greenville, SC
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N802DJSwearingen SA-26AT
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 7, 1994
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19940621027289A
- Case key
- 3424
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
The pilot's failure to properly flare the aircraft during landing, resulting in a hard landing.
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
The pilot had completed a practice ILS approach in VFR conditions. During the flare, his power reduction was excessive, and the aircraft landed hard. Structural damage to the wings resulted.
Factual narrative
On June 21, 1994, at 0900 eastern daylight time, a Swearingen SA-26AT, N802DJ, landed hard at the Donaldson Center in Greenville, South Carolina. The aircraft had substantial damage, and the pilot and a pilot-rated passenger were not injured. The aircraft was operated under 14 CFR Part 91 by the pilot. Visual meteorological conditions existed at the time, and no flight plan was filed for the personal flight. The flight originated in Spartanburg, South Carolina at 0800.
The pilot was flying the newly-acquired aircraft to accumulate time for insurance purposes. While landing at the Donaldson Center, the aircraft landed hard. The pilot stated that during the landing, everything seemed normal until the aircraft was crossing the runway end, just prior to touchdown. Engine power was reduced, and "Evidently this power reduction, inadvertently, exceeded the limit where N802DJ could remain flying and a harder than normal landing was effected."
The accident was reported late because the pilot did not realize that the aircraft damage was substantial. Structural damage to the wings was discovered when the aircraft was being repaired.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N802DJ
- Reported as
- Swearingen SA-26AT
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- T26-117
- Airframe hours
- 8,781
- Engine
- Garrett TPE-331-1-151, 665 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Spartan Fleet Management, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Continuous airworthiness · April 14, 1994 · 15 hours before
- Departed
- SPA · Spartanburg, SC
- Airport
- 7A1 · Donaldson Center, runway 4, 8,000 × 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
- 58
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,717 total · 34 in this make and model · 1,717 as pilot in command · 21 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 6 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.