- Date
- September 15, 2017, 13:00 local (20:00 UTC)
- Place
- Watsonville, CA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N5391ACessna T210N
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Landing gear collapse
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 3
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- FAA-FSDO
- FAA report
- 20170915020789A
- Case key
- 96019
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 improper landing flare, which resulted in a bounced landing and subsequent nose gear separation.
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, during the landing, the airplane bounced and soon after he felt a "jerk and thump," and the propeller contacted the runway as the airplane slid across the runway with the nose down. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the leading edge of the right horizontal stabilizer. Examination of the runway surface revealed markings consistent with a hard landing on the nose landing gear. The pilot reported there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation. It is likely that the pilot failed to maintain a proper landing flare, which resulted in a hard landing on the nose gear and its subsequent separation.
Factual narrative
On September 15, 2017, about 1300 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna T210N airplane, N5391A, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Watsonville, California. The pilot and passenger were not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The pilot reported that the flight and approach to landing were normal. During the landing, the airplane bounced, and he felt a “jerk and thump.” The next thing he recalled was the propeller impacting the runway surface as the airplane slid across the runway with the nose down. The pilot stated that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions of the airplane. A postaccident examination of the airplane and accident site by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed impact gouging and tire marks on the runway surface near the approach end of runway 20. The nose landing gear separated from the airplane and was found on the runway. The airplane came to rest on the left side of the runway and exhibited impact damage to the lower fuselage and substantial damage to the leading edge of the right horizontal stabilizer. The inspector noted that the nose landing gear separated “straight off,” and there was no evidence of mechanical anomalies. The nose landing gear linkage was in the down and locked position.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5391A
- Reported as
- Cessna T210N (N)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 21063408
- Built
- 1979
- Airframe hours
- 4,780
- Engine
- Continental Motors TSIO-520-R, 310 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Singh Amandeep
- Registered owner
- Singh Amandeep
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal; None
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 18, 2017 · 35 hours before
- Departed
- LVK · Livermore, CA
- Destination
- WVI · Watsonville, CA
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- WVI · Watsonville Muni, runway 20, 4,501 × 149 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Electronic multifunction display, Auto-pilot, ADS-B, Stall warning system, Satellite tracking device, Onboard weather
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
- 36
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Flight hours
- 140 total · 37 in this make and model · 40 as pilot in command · 48 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F, dew point 54 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.96 inHg
- Observed at
- WVI
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on January 25, 2021, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.5 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.