Incident Details
The incident occurred during an annual insurance flight review, which included a short field landing exercise. The pilot receiving instruction reported that the flight instructor directed him to be "50 ft. over the numbers at 75 KIAS, then go to flight idle, push the nose down, and land short." On short final, the pilot achieved the target altitude and airspeed, then reduced the power to flight idle. The airplane subsequently dropped rapidly. The pilot attempted to advance the power lever, but the turbine-powered engine was slow to respond due to spool-up lag. The airplane landed hard and bounced. After the bounce, the pilot and instructor taxied back to the hangar with no further incident.
Damage and Subsequent Actions
The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage. This damage was not immediately apparent after the hard landing; it was discovered later during a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) evaluation conducted as part of a repair assessment for a ferry permit. The ferry permit had been submitted after an engineering evaluation of the fuselage structure, intended to allow the company to fly the airplane to a more appropriate repair station.
Aircraft Information
The pilot reported that there were no pre-accident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation. The flight manual for the PA-46-350P specifies the following short field landing technique: flaps fully down, airspeed 78 KIAS, and throttle as required. Once over the obstacle on final, the throttle is reduced to idle. After touchdown, maximum braking is applied.