No fatalities

24 Feb 2017: CESSNA T337 G — Linden, NJ

Linden, NJ, United States

On 24 Feb 2017, a CESSNA T337 G was involved in an aviation accident near Linden, NJ. No fatalities were reported. Investigators recorded the probable cause as: The pilot’s abrupt maneuver to avoid birds during short final approach, which resulted in a hard, bounced landing. This summary draws on records from NTSB; 12 related events involving the same aircraft type or operator are linked below.

SourcesNTSBPrimary reportUpdated 1778583330Data APIEditorial standards

During approach, a pilot pushed the yoke forward to avoid birds, leading to an increased descent rate, hard landing, bounce, nose gear collapse, and substantial damage to the firewall.

Incident Overview

A pilot reported that during the approach to a destination airport, he pushed the yoke forward to avoid a flock of birds in the flight path. This action resulted in an "increased and abnormal rate of descent." The pilot stated that he was subsequently unable to arrest the descent, and the main landing gear made "very hard contact with the runway." The airplane bounced, the nose landing gear collapsed, and the aircraft came to rest in a nose-down attitude.

Damage Assessment

The airplane sustained substantial damage to the firewall as a result of the hard landing and subsequent collapse.

Airport Information

The Federal Aviation Administration Airport Facility Diagram page for the destination airport includes a note stating: "Birds on and invof [in vicinity of] arpt."

Contributing factors

PilotAttain/maintain not possibleAbility to respond/compensate