Incident Overview

Description
A Cessna 208B, N80JF, was substantially damaged while landing at Blackwater Creek Ultralight Flightpark (9FD2), Plant City, Florida. The pilot was not injured. According to the pilot, the airplane performed normally during the preflight, takeoff, and skydiving operations. Then, while on the final approach leg to runway 35, about 80 ft above ground level and a “few feet before the threshold,” the windshield became “foggy outside” and the pilot could not see the runway. He did not attempt to abort the landing because the jumpers were in the area and he did not want to risk hitting any of them or trees surrounding the runway. The pilot maintained the airplane heading and descent, he felt the main landing gear touchdown, applied reverse thrust, and then felt the nose landing gear collapse before the propeller struck the ground and the airplane came to rest. An NTSB review of a witness video recording revealed that during the landing, the nose landing gear contacted the runway first, followed by the main landing gear, and the airplane bounced. Next, the nose landing gear impacted the runway prior to collapsing and the airplane continued down the runway out of view. An examination of the wreckage by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that the nose landing gear separated from the airplane. In addition, part of the fuselage structure and an engine mount were substantially damaged. Probable Cause: “The pilot’s improper landing flare due to reduced visibility from a foggy windshield and his failure to use the airplanes windshield defrost system, which resulted in a hard landing and subsequent nose landing gear collapse.”
Primary Cause
Improper landing flare due to reduced visibility from a foggy windshield and failure to utilize the airplane’s windshield defrost system.Improper landing flare due to reduced visibility from a foggy windshield and failure to utilize the airplane’s windshield defrost system.Share on: