Piper PA46 accident near Hartford, Connecticut, August 28, 2018
On August 28, 2018 at about 1:30 pm local time, a 2002 Piper PA46, registered N178DB, was substantially damaged in an accident during landing near Hartford, Connecticut (Hartford-Brainard airport). It was a business flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). No one was hurt; 4 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
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The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The pilot’s unstabilized approach and hard landing, which resulted in a nose landing gear collapse.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- August 28, 2018 · about 1:30 pm local time
- Place
- Hartford, Connecticut · Hartford-Brainard · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 4 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Piper PA46 350P, built 2002 · all PA46s on the register
- Registration
- N178DB · registry record · serial 4636333
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Business flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The pilot reported that, during the approach, the tower controller instructed him to stay "high and close." Once he turned to final, he reduced the power, and the airplane began rapidly descending. He added that he applied some power and back pressure to arrest the descent rate as he began to flare, but the airplane landed hard and faster than normal. As the nose landing gear touched down, he applied reverse thrust and braked aggressively. Subsequently, the nose landing gear collapsed, and the airplane came to rest on the runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage and engine mount. The pilot reported that postaccident examination revealed that a nose landing gear actuator bolt had sheared off. The pilot reported that the primary cause of the accident was his failure to maintain a stabilized approach, which resulted in a hard landing and higher-than-normal ground speed upon touchdown.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
What happened, in order
- Miscellaneous/other during landing
- Hard landing during landing defining event
- Attempted remediation/recovery during landing
- Landing gear collapse during landing
The NTSB's findings
- cause Personnel issues › Task performance › Use of equip/info › Aircraft control › Pilot
- cause Aircraft › Aircraft oper/perf/capability › Performance/control parameters › Descent/approach/glide path › Not attained/maintained
Pilot
- Certificate: private
- Ratings: single-engine land; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 3,407 hours in all; 540 in this make and model; 27 in the last 90 days; 5 in the last 30 days; 3,282 as pilot in command
- Last flight review: May 11, 2018
- Medical certificate: Class 3 (without waivers/limitations)
- Seat: left
- Injury: no injuries
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 1,896 hours
- Last inspection: annual inspection, April 11, 2018
- Maximum gross weight: 4,340 lb
- Seats: 6
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Pratt & Whitney PT6A-35 (turboprop); 81 hours total
- Operator: Prm Enterprises Inc
The flight
- Departed from: MHT Manchester NH at 12:45 pm
- Destination: HFD Hartford CT
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 20, 4,417 ft by 150 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Visibility: 8 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 84°F (29°C), dew point 73°F (23°C)
- Altimeter: 30.02 inHg
- Observation at 1:31 pm from KHFD
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flig | 1 | |||
| Passengers | 3 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
About this page
Everything above comes from the NTSB's public accident database: the narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words, and the coded tables behind its report (pilot, aircraft, flight, weather, injuries, sequence of events) are written out in plain English. Pilots' ages, home towns and medical details are left out on purpose. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, the folder of records gathered during the investigation, shown as the NTSB released them (the NTSB redacts some personal details first) and listed under the NTSB's own titles. This site's own text never names pilots, passengers or anyone else involved. A preliminary report describes what is known soon after the event and can change; the final report, with the probable cause, usually follows one to two years later and this page is refreshed when it does. Case number GAA18CA529.