- Date
- April 2, 2011, 19:05 local (23:05 UTC)
- Place
- Bridgeport, CT
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N100HACessna U206C
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed · report June 20, 2011
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20110402007249A
- Case key
- 78758
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 delayed decision to perform a go-around 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
According to the pilot, he was landing to the west during the late afternoon. As he flared the airplane, he lost his visual reference with the ground due to the sun's glare, momentarily blinding him. He initiated a go-around; however, the airplane landed hard and bounced airborne three times, resulting in substantial damage to the firewall and nose section. He reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation. According to data from the United States Naval Observatory, official sunset was at 1919. According to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, about the time of the accident, the sun would have been about 275 degrees magnetic and about 2 degrees above the horizon.
Factual narrative
According to the pilot, he was landing to the west during the late afternoon. As the airplane was in the flare, the pilot lost his visual reference with the ground due to the sun's glare, momentarily blinding him. He began to perform a go-around maneuver; however, the airplane landed hard and porpoised three times, resulting in substantial damage to the firewall and nose section. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation. According to data from the United States Naval Observatory, official sunset was at 1919. According to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, about the time of the accident, the sun would have been about 275 degrees magnetic and about 2 degrees above the horizon.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N100HA
- Reported as
- Cessna U206C
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- U206-0930
- Engine
- Cont Motor IO 520 SERIES, 285 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Hagerstown Aircraft Services Inc
- Registered owner
- Hagerstown Aircraft Services Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- GAI · Gaithersburg, MD
- Destination
- BDR · Bridgeport, CT
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- BDR · Igor I Sikorsky Memorial Airpo, runway 29, 4,761 × 150 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
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 72
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 4,500 total · 54 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- 330° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 8,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 52 °F, dew point 21 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.53 inHg
- Observed at
- BDR
Docket · 5
The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 3, 2011, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.3 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.