- Date
- November 30, 2009, 22:00 local (22:00 UTC)
- Place
- Pago Pago, Antarctica
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N27BNPilatus Britten-Norman BN-2B-26
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 23, 2010
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20091130052809A
- Case key
- 75153
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 action to maneuver the airplane to avoid a collision with a flock of birds while on final approach, resulting in a hard landing. Contributing to the accident were the birds.
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 reported that he was performing a maintenance test flight at an airport located right on the water's edge, on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The pilot stated that as he began the landing flare, several birds flew in front of his windscreen. To avoid hitting the birds, the pilot maneuvered the airplane to the left. The airplane subsequently landed hard on the left main landing gear, just left of the runway centerline. The pilot reported that after touchdown, to avoid running off the runway, he applied right braking action, which resulted in the airplane turning violently to the right and coming to a stop with the nose between 20-30 degrees from runway centerline. Postaccident inspection of the airplane found that the left wing was wrinkled and structurally damaged.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that he was performing a maintenance test flight at an airport located right on the water's edge, on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The pilot stated that as he began the landing flare, several birds flew in front of his windscreen. To avoid hitting the birds, the pilot maneuvered the airplane to the left. The airplane subsequently landed hard on the left main landing gear, just left of the runway centerline. The pilot reported that after touchdown, to avoid running off the runway, he applied right braking action, which resulted in the airplane turning violently to the right and coming to a stop with the nose between 20-30 degrees from runway centerline. Postaccident inspection of the airplane found that the left wing was wrinkled and structurally damaged.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N27BN
- Reported as
- Pilatus Britten-Norman BN-2B-26
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 2220
- Airframe hours
- 8,216
- Engines
- Lycoming 0-540 SERIES, 250 horsepower, reciprocatingLycoming O-540 SERIES, 250 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Flight test · Part 91
- Operator
- Inter Island Airways, Inc., doing business as Inter Island Airways
- Registered owner
- Samoa Technologies Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · October 6, 2009
- Departed
- PPG · Pago Pago, PO
- Destination
- PPG · Pago Pago, PO
- Flight plan
- Unknown
- Airport
- PPG · Tafuna/Pago Pago International, runway 26, 3,800 × 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
- 51
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- June 10, 2009
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 4,400 total · 1,100 in this make and model · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 30° at 11 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 86 °F
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on January 4, 2010, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 520 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.