27 Sep 2015: CESSNA 550

27 Sep 2015: CESSNA 550 (N622PG) — Unknown operator

No fatalities • Sarasota, FL, United States

Probable cause

The pilot’s failure to attain the proper touchdown point and to adequately slow the airplane within the available runway, which resulted in a runway overrun.

— NTSB Determination

Accident narrative

On September 27, 2015, about 1906 eastern daylight time, a privately owned and operated Cessna 550, N622PG, was substantially damaged during a runway excursion after landing at the Sarasota Bradenton International Airport (SRQ), Sarasota, Florida. The airline transport pilot and the passenger sustained minor injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and an instrument flight rules flight plan was filed for the personal flight, which was conducted under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The flight departed Boca Raton Airport (BCT), Boca Raton, Florida, about 1827.The owner of the airplane stated he had been receiving flight instruction from the pilot, and in return he offered to let the pilot borrow the airplane.

The pilot stated that, at the conclusion of the flight, he approached the destination airport and calculated that the landing distance required was "between 2,010 and 2,100 feet." After an uneventful flare, the airplane touched down on runway 22 "shortly after" the runway numbers. After touchdown, the pilot immediately deployed the speed brakes, brakes, and thrust reversers. The pilot said the airplane had slowed to 60 knots at the intersection of runway 14-32, about 3,000 ft from the threshold of runway 22, so he put the thrust reversers in idle reverse. He had considered exiting at taxiway A, which was about 400 feet past the intersection of the two runways but felt it would have required maximum braking. The pilot said he then amended his plan and decided to exit the runway onto taxiway D at the departure end of runway 22, about 2,000 feet beyond the runway intersection. He stated during this time, between taxiway A and D, he held his feet off the brakes, estimating the airplane speed was 20-23 knots. He retracted the flaps, speed brakes, and the thrust reversers. He reported that, as the airplane approached taxiway D, he applied brakes and commented to the passenger, "we have no brakes." He pumped the brakes, then redeployed the speed brakes and thrust reversers and applied the emergency brake.

Air traffic controllers in the SRQ tower stated that the airplane touched down in "the vicinity of the aiming point," and that after touchdown they "noticed that they might be a bit fast." The accident sequence was captured by surveillance cameras and a review of the video showed the airplane touched down approximately abeam the B1 taxiway, 1,700 feet beyond the approach end of the runway, and that the thrust reversers were not deployed during the recorded portion of the landing roll. Runway 04/22 at SQR was 5,009 ft long and 150 ft wide; runway 14/32 at SQR was 9,500 ft long and 150 ft wide. Taxiway B was 1,700 feet from the threshold of runway 22, taxiway A was 3,400 feet from the threshold of runway 22. Taxiway A was about 1,600 ft from taxiway D and the departure end of the runway.

Postaccident examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector and an airframe and powerplant mechanic revealed a puncture in the pressure vessel aft of the nose landing gear and damage to the bulkhead belly stringers. Functional testing of the brakes showed that they were operational and did not reveal evidence any pre- or post-impact mechanical anomalies. According to photographs and diagrams prepared by airport management, skid marks that aligned directly with the airplane's tire tracks in the grass began 1,130 feet prior to the departure end of the runway, just past taxiway A.

The pilot held an airline transport pilot certificate with type ratings for Cessna CE-500 and CE-525 airplanes. His most recent FAA second-class medical certificate was issued on March 18, 2015. Review of flight experience documents provided by the pilot's attorney revealed that the pilot reported 4075 hours of flight experience, of which 1,713 were in turbine-powered airplanes.

The 7-seat, low-wing airplane was manufactured in 1978, was powered by two Pratt and Whitney JT15D-4 turbofan engines, and was certified as a two-pilot airplane. Its most recent Phase 1-5 inspections were completed May 29, 2015 at 9,212.9 total aircraft hours. The airplane accrued 52.6 hours since that date.

At 1853, the weather reported at SRQ included few clouds at 2,220 and 3,100 feet, calm wind, and 10 miles visibility. The temperature was 27°C, the dewpoint was 25°C, and the altimeter setting was 29.89 inches of mercury.

Contributing factors

  • cause Descent/approach/glide path — Not attained/maintained
  • cause Pilot
  • cause Surface speed/braking — Not attained/maintained

Conditions

Weather
VMC, vis 10sm

Loading the flight search…

What you can do on Flight Finder

  • Search flights between any two airports with live fares.
  • By aircraft — pick a plane model (e.g. Boeing 787, Airbus A350) and see every route it flies from your origin.
  • Route map — click any airport worldwide to explore its destinations, or draw a radius to find nearby airports.
  • Global aviation safety — aviation accident database, 5,200+ records since 1980, with map and rankings by aircraft and operator.
  • NTSB safety feed — recent U.S. aviation accidents and incidents from the official NTSB CAROL database, updated daily.

Frequently asked questions

How do I search flights by aircraft type on FlightFinder?

Pick an aircraft model — Boeing 737, Airbus A320, A380, Boeing 787 Dreamliner and more — enter your origin airport, and FlightFinder shows every route that plane flies from there with live fares.

Which aircraft types can I filter by?

We support Boeing 737/747/757/767/777/787, the full Airbus A220/A319/A320/A321/A330/A340/A350/A380 family, Embraer E170/E175/E190/E195, Bombardier CRJ and Dash 8, and the ATR 42/72 turboprops.

Is FlightFinder free to use?

Search and schedules are free. Pro ($4.99/month, $39/year, or $99 one-time lifetime) unlocks the enriched flight card — on-time stats, CO₂ per passenger, amenities, live gate & weather — plus My Trips with push alerts.

Where does the route data come from?

Live schedules come from Amadeus, AeroDataBox and Travelpayouts. Observed routes (which aircraft actually flew a given city pair) are crowdsourced from adsb.lol ADS-B data under the Open Database License.