- Date
- August 20, 1992, 16:45 local (20:45 UTC)
- Place
- Bedford, MA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N8371HPiper PA-34-200T
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 14, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19920820032779A
- Case key
- 37214
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 loss of airplane control during the flare, resulting in porpoising and subsequent 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 airplane was landing on runway 29. A witness on the airport saw N8371H porpoising several times prior to touchdown. He said, 'after porpoising another 4 to 5 times the plane then pitched over and descended to the runway, hitting nose wheel first...it...pitched nose up to an altitude of 20-30' and then pitched over...hitting the runway again nose first.'
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8371H
- Reported as
- Piper PA-34-200T
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 7103420
- Airframe hours
- 1,820
- Engine
- Continental TSIO-360, 220 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Edward Walter
- Registered owner
- Edward Walter
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 2, 1900 · 35 hours before
- Departed
- ASH · Nashua, NH
- Destination
- BFD
- Airport
- BED · Laurence G. Hanscom Field, runway 29, 7,200 × 100 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
- 49
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 2,968 total · 198 in this make and model · 2,700 as pilot in command · 14.1 in the last 90 days · 6 in the last 30 days · 1.7 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 310° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N8371H · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.