Accident Details
On September 27, 2009, at about 1550 eastern daylight time, a Bombardier CL-600-2B16, registration N190MP, sustained substantial damage while landing at Martha's Vineyard Airport (MVY), Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts. The flight, operating under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight, originated from Denver, Colorado, with an instrument flight rules flight plan. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed at the time.
The aircraft was configured for landing with a flap setting of 30 degrees and an approach speed of 135 knots. The pilot-in-command (PIC) reported a left-to-right crosswind of 24 knots during the instrument landing system (ILS) approach to runway 24, which is 5,504 feet long and 100 feet wide asphalt. The approach was described as stable until the flare, when, at about 15 feet above the runway, the airplane suddenly lost airspeed and landed hard. It bounced approximately 15 to 20 feet back into the air, then contacted the ground again and bounced about 5 to 10 feet before rolling out without further incident.
Flight Crew Statements
The copilot reported that the crew broke out of clouds at about 500 feet above the ground. All operations were normal, and the crew had briefed the possibility of windshear due to conditions. At about 20 feet, the PIC reduced throttles to idle for the landing flare, and simultaneously a loss of about 25 knots of airspeed occurred. The aircraft landed on the main landing gear and bounced, then settled on the nose gear and bounced again, followed by a landing on the main gear.
Witness Observation
An airport operations supervisor witnessed the accident and stated that the airplane landed hard approximately 1,500 feet down the runway. The airplane appeared to be traveling at a high rate of speed, and the supervisor observed the spoilers deploy when the airplane was about 3,000 feet down the runway.
Post-Accident Inspection
After the hard landing, the PIC visually inspected the airplane and noted no abnormalities. The flight crew departed MVY about 15 minutes later. However, after takeoff, when the landing gear was selected up, the nose landing gear door open light remained illuminated. The PIC diverted to Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, where the airplane landed without incident. Subsequent inspection by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed substantial damage to the nose section, including wrinkling at the forward pressure bulkhead.
The airplane was equipped with a cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and an enhanced ground proximity warning system (EGPWS), which were retained for examination. It was not equipped with a flight data recorder, nor was one required.
Cockpit Voice Recorder and Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System Data
The CVR was sent to the Safety Board's Vehicle Recorder Laboratory for readout. It recorded four channels of audio for 30 minutes, but none of the audio was pertinent to the accident, consistent with the CVR being overwritten by subsequent events.
The EGPWS data, downloaded at Honeywell, Inc., under NTSB supervision, revealed that a "too low flaps" warning activated when the airplane was about 300 feet above the ground, followed approximately 14 seconds later by a sink rate warning at about 50 feet above the ground. The airplane touched down at an airspeed of about 150 knots. No windshear alerts were generated by the EGPWS for the accident flight.
Pilot Experience
The PIC reported 7,220 hours of total flight experience, including about 710 hours in the same make and model as the accident airplane. He reported no mechanical malfunctions during the accident flight.
Aircraft Manual and Certification
The airplane operating manual's Supplemental Procedures Section 3, Precautionary Actions, for situations when windshear activity is known or suspected at arrival, included the instruction: "Select the minimum flap setting acceptable for the runway length to be used." According to the manufacturer, the airplane was certified for normal landings with the flap system at 45 degrees only, and no flight test data existed to certify landings with flaps not at 45 degrees during normal operations. At certification, the airplane was tested for abnormal conditions, including wing flap system malfunctions, with landings at other flap settings, and corresponding abnormal procedures were published in the airplane flight manual. These procedures were to be used only in specific abnormal conditions. After the accident, the manufacturer revised the manual by deleting the sentence about selecting the minimum flap setting.
A weather observation at MVY around the accident time reported wind from 120 degrees at 16 knots gusting to 23 knots, visibility 1 1/4 statute miles in heavy rain and mist, ceiling 400 feet broken, 900 feet broken, and 1,900 feet overcast, temperature 18°C, dew point 17°C, and altimeter 29.61 inches of mercury.