- Date
- February 24, 2017, 18:45 local (23:45 UTC)
- Place
- Linden, NJ
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N685VCessna T337
- Defining event
- Approach-VFR pattern final: Abrupt maneuver
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- Status
- Completed · report April 10, 2017
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20170224007769A
- Case key
- 94795
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 abrupt maneuver to avoid birds during short final approach, which resulted in a hard, bounced landing.
Findings · 3
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 reported that, during approach, he pushed the yoke forward to avoid a flock of birds in his flightpath, which resulted in an "increased and abnormal rate of descent." He was then unable to arrest the descent, and the "main landing gear made very hard contact with the runway." The airplane bounced, the nose landing gear collapsed, and the airplane came to rest nose down. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the firewall. The Federal Aviation Administration Airport Facility Diagram page for the destination airport in part states: "Birds on and invof [in vicinity of] arpt."
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that during approach he pushed the yoke forward to avoid a flock of birds in his flight path, which resulted in an "increased and abnormal rate of descent". He further reported that he was then unable to arrest the descent and the "main landing gear made very hard contact with the runway". The airplane bounced, the nose landing gear collapsed, and the airplane came to rest nose down. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the firewall. The Federal Aviation Administration Airport Facility Diagram page for the destination airport in part states: "Birds on and invof [in vicinity of] arpt."
Aircraft
- Registration
- N685V
- Reported as
- Cessna T337 (G)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- P3370265
- Built
- 1976
- Airframe hours
- 2,030.1
- Engines
- Continental TSIO-360-CB6B, 225 horsepower, reciprocatingContinental TSIO-360-CB5, 225 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 1, 2016
- Departed
- LDJ · Linden, NJ
- Destination
- LDJ · Linden, NJ
- Airport
- LDJ · Linden, runway 27, 4,140 × 100 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Auto-pilot, Stall warning system
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
- 59
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- November 6, 2016
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 525 total · 165 in this make and model · 424 as pilot in command · 3 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- Wind
- 190° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 66 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.85 inHg
- Observed at
- KLDJ
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on March 29, 2017, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 360 KB 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.