N228CH – SOCATA TBM 850 – 2024-04-24 NTSB Accident Report

On April 24, 2024, about 1010 eastern daylight time, a Socata TBM 850, N228CH, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Raleigh, North Carolina. The airline transport pilot was seriously injured, and the passenger received minor injuries. The airplane was operated by Medical Air, Inc. as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 business flight.

The accident occurred following an aborted landing on runway 32 at Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU). According to the passenger, the airplane was “rolling” and “tobogganing…as if we were descending a hill on the snow” during the final approach. He said the airplane touched down twice, after which the pilot appeared to “turn and roll the airplane left as if to take off again.” He added that the pilot made no announcements and that there was no communication between them from runway contact to the accident site. The passenger stated that, in the bank, “it felt as if the plane lost power” but that he couldn’t detect if the engine had stopped.

The pilot reported that he was “not clear on all that occurred” but remembered seeing dust from when the propeller contacted the runway. He was concerned that he would not be able to stop on the runway and would collide with another airplane on the intersecting runway, so he aborted the landing. He said that, once the airplane was airborne, he made a tight left turn to avoid this traffic and the airplane stalled. The pilot said his last thought was to “unload the wing and try to flatten contact with the ground.”

Airport surveillance video captured the airplane on final approach in the area consistent with the touchdown zone of runway 32. As the airplane approached the surface, it was temporarily blocked from view by a VOR antenna. Both the view obscuration and the low resolution of the video precluded determining any details about the airplane’s configuration. After the airplane came back into view, a plume consistent with dust or smoke bloomed around the propeller and briefly enveloped the fuselage as it continued just above the surface for about 1,500 ft before it transitioned to a climb attitude and banked left. During the left bank, all three landing gear appeared to be in the down position. The airplane stopped its climb about 100 ft above ground level and slowed while the left bank steepened to nearly 90° as the airplane descended to ground contact.

Review of surveillance videos and photographs revealed that the airplane impacted the ground with its left wing tip and nose almost simultaneously. The airplane rotated an additional 45°, coming to rest upright. The propeller separated from the engine and the leading edges of each of the four blades displayed gouging and chordwise scratching near the tips. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage, empennage, and both wings. The nosewheel had separated from the airframe. The left main landing gear had separated from the wing, and the right main landing gear was found stowed in the right wing. The back side of the right main landing gear wheel axle and the aft lower edge face of the landing gear door showed scrape marks.

The airplane was equipped with a Garmin GDU 1060 Electronic Flight Instrument System (EFIS) that recorded numerous flight parameters. The unit recorded the entire flight starting at 0930 and ending at 1009:18, but the impact was not recorded. A review of the last minute of data revealed that the airplane first touched down on the runway at 1008:50 at 80 kts indicated airspeed (KIAS), then initiated a climbing left turn at 1009:15 at 65 KIAS before the data ended 3 seconds later.

The airplane was equipped with a Shadin Engine Trend Monitor that capable of tracking and recording certain engine performance parameters, such as “Logon,” “Engine Start,” “Take-Off,” “Power Check Report,” “Landing Report,” and “Engine Off Log,” as well as engine parameter exceedances. The accident flight’s data file was about 22 minutes long and contained only the “Logon,” “Engine Start,” “Take-off,” and “Power Check Report” parameters. No “Landing Report,” “Engine Off Log,” nor “Exceedance Report” was recorded. At the time of the accident flight’s “Power Check,” the engine was operating normally.

Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed no malfunction or deficiency that would have precluded normal operation.