Pilatus PC-12/47 N877AF

Summary

On 12 June 2009 at about 11:56 local time, a Pilatus PC-12/47 registered N877AF, operated by Alpha Flying Inc., was involved in an accident near Bridgeport, Connecticut, United States. 7 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

12 June 2009 at 11:56

Classification

Accident

Location

Bridgeport, Connecticut, United States

Nearest airport

Igor Sikorsky Memorial Airport (BDR)

Coordinates

41.1633, -73.1261

Aircraft

Pilatus PC-12/47

Registration

N877AF

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Alpha Flying Inc.

Operating rule

Part 91 Subpart K: Fractional

Purpose of flight

Executive/Corporate

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Norwood → Bridgeport

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

IMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA09LA339

Nobody was injured.

The flight crew's misjudgment of speed and distance, which resulted in an overrun of the wet runway.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilots conducted the VOR 24 approach "to minimums," and when they were not able to visually obtain the runway, they conducted a missed approach. The pilots then received "vectors to final" for the ILS runway 6 approach, and visually acquired the runway lights at the decision altitude of 307 feet. They continued the landing, extending the landing gear and selecting the flaps to 30 degrees. The airplane touched down with less than 1,000 feet of runway remaining, and the pilots applied maximum reverse thrust and "more than average braking." The airplane began to hydroplane on the wet runway, and impacted a blast fence about 350 feet off the departure end of the runway. Both pilots reported they did not perform a landing distance calculation prior to landing and knew they were "landing long." They also reported no mechanical deficiencies with the airplane or engine. Examination of the engine revealed signatures of full power with the propeller in full reverse mode, at the time of impact. The airplane manufacturer recommended a landing configuration using 40 degrees of flaps. In a 40-degree flap configuration, with reverse thrust, the required landing distance for the airplane was 2,013 feet. In a configuration of 30 degrees of flaps, and no reverse thrust, the airplane required 2,933 feet of landing distance. The Safety Board issued recommendations regarding removal of the blast fence after two previous accidents, beginning 15 years prior to this accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.