Piper PA46 N178DB accident near Hartford, Connecticut

Probable cause

The pilot’s unstabilized approach and hard landing, which resulted in a nose landing gear collapse.

NTSB analysis

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.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for GAA18CA529 for the full record.