- Date
- March 9, 2009, 12:18 local (16:18 UTC)
- Place
- Belmar, NJ
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N28DAPiper PA-42
- Defining event
- Landing: Abnormal runway contact
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 11, 2009
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20090309004149A
- Case key
- 73461
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 improper flare, which resulted in a hard landing.
Findings · 2
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot in the right seat stated that he was the "flying pilot" at the time of the accident. The flight proceeded normally in instrument meteorological conditions. The pilot made visual contact with the airport between 1 and 2 miles from the airport, and the pilot circled to land on runway 14. When he was between 200 and 300 hundred feet above ground level, he corrected his turn to final with a "slightly aggressive bank angle" while simultaneously reducing power, resulting in an excessive sink rate. He rolled the wings to level and increased power. He was not able to arrest the sink rate before the aircraft impacted the runway. The impact collapsed the left main landing gear and caused the airplane to swerve left. The airplane came to rest approximately 1000 feet beyond the threshold off the left side of the runway. The "flying pilot" had over 133 hours in the make and model of the accident aircraft, 20 hours as pilot in command (PIC), and 3 hours as PIC in the preceding 90 days.
Factual narrative
The pilot in the right seat stated that he was the "flying pilot" at the time of the accident. The flight proceeded normally in instrument meteorological conditions and the VOR-A approach was flown. Visual contact with the airport was made between 1 and 2 miles from the airport, and the pilot circled to land on runway 14. When he was between 200 and 300 hundred feet AGL, he corrected his turn to final with a "slightly aggressive bank angle" while simultaneously reducing power, resulting in an excessive sink rate. He rolled the wings to level and increased power. He was not able to arrest the sink rate before the aircraft impacted the runway. The impact collapsed the left main landing gear and caused the airplane to swerve left. The airplane came to rest approximately 1000 feet beyond the threshold off the left side of the runway. The "flying pilot" had 20 hours in the make and model of the accident aircraft as pilot in command (PIC), with 3 hours being in the preceding 90 days. The nose landing gear, right landing gear, left nacelle, wing and wing control surfaces also sustained damage during the accident sequence as the airplane departed the runway.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N28DA
- Reported as
- Piper PA-42
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 42-8001078
- Airframe hours
- 5,637
- Engines
- P&W Canada PT6A-41, 720 horsepower, turbo propP&W Canada PT6A-41, 720 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Positioning · Part 91
- Operator
- Hortmont Aviation Services Inc, doing business as On Demand Air Taxi
- Registered owner
- Hortmont Aviation Services Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · March 7, 2009 · 1 hours before
- Departed
- PNE · Philadelphia, PA
- Destination
- BLM · Belmar, NJ
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- BLM · Monmouth Executive Airport, runway 14, 7,300 × 80 ft, asphalt
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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 38
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Airline transport, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- February 27, 2008
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 3,566 total · 133 in this make and model · 1,786 as pilot in command · 88 in the last 90 days · 27 in the last 30 days
- Role
- Other flight crew
- Age
- 65
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter, Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- October 1, 2008
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 7,484 total · 450 in this make and model · 7,000 as pilot in command · 10 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Wind
- 40° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 5 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 700 ft broken
- Temperature
- 43 °F, dew point -8 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- BLM
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.