- Date
- December 28, 2011, 19:00 local (Dec 29, 2011, 01:00 UTC)
- Place
- Picayune, MS
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N800BYMitsubishi MU-2B-20
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- Status
- Completed · report November 26, 2012
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20111228029239A
- Case key
- 82589
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 excessive rate of descent during the landing flare/touchdown, 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, the wind was calm at the time of the accident. The airplane entered the traffic pattern on a left base leg at 120 knots with the landing gear extended and flaps extended to 20 degrees. The pilot turned the airplane onto final approach, and when the runway was assured, extended the flaps to 40 degrees and confirmed the landing gear were down and locked. Upon landing, the airplane suddenly pitched nose down, and the pilot realized there was a discrepancy with the nose landing gear. He applied full thrust reverse, stopped, and secured the airplane on the runway. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the nose landing gear was collapsed, the left main landing gear tire was separated from the wheel, and the wheel assembly was separated from the landing gear. Wrinkles in the fuselage skin near the forward pressure bulkhead were noted on both sides of the airplane. Additionally, the left and right upper and lower wing spars were distorted, and the fuel tanks at the wingtips were dislodged and loose from their mountings, consistent with substantial damage. The pilot reported no mechanical malfunctions or anomalies with the airplane, but the damage was consistent with a hard landing.
Factual narrative
According to the pilot, the wind was calm at the time of the accident. He entered the traffic pattern on a left base leg at 120 knots with the landing gear extended and flaps extended 20 degrees. He turned onto final approach to runway 36, and when the runway was assured, extended the flaps to 40 degrees and confirmed the landing gears were down and locked. Upon landing, the airplane suddenly pitched nose down and he realized there was a discrepancy with the nose landing gear. He applied full thrust reverse, stopped, and secured the airplane on the runway. Postaccident examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector revealed the nose landing gear was collapsed, the left main landing gear tire was separated from the wheel, and the wheel assembly was separated from the landing gear. Wrinkles in the fuselage skin near the forward pressure bulkhead were noted on both sides of the airplane. Additionally, the left and right upper and lower wing spars were distorted, and the fuel tanks at the wingtips were dislodged and loose from their mountings consistent with substantial damage. The pilot reported to the FAA inspector that he observed no mechanical malfunctions or anomalies with the airplane before the hard landing.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N800BY
- Reported as
- Mitsubishi MU-2B-20
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 221
- Airframe hours
- 5,996
- Engines
- Honeywell TPE331-1-151A, 665 horsepower, turbo propHoneywell TPE331-1-151A, 665 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Northshore Group LLC
- Registered owner
- Northshore Group LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 4, 2011
- Departed
- ASD · Slidell, AL
- Destination
- MJD · Picayune, MS
- Airport
- MJD · Picayune Municipal Airport, runway 36, 5,000 × 75 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
- 57
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- April 21, 2011
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 6,749 total · 387 in this make and model · 6,749 as pilot in command · 36 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 46 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.13 inHg
- Observed at
- HSA, 12 nm away
Docket · 8
The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 31, 2012, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 5.6 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.