Cessna 208 Caravan
Kalaupapa, Hawaii
Injuries: 2 Minor
The pilot of the commuter airplane reported that she was going to establish an approach and landing on runway 05 at an airport with a single runway and no taxiways. While on a 7-mile final, she communicated with the pilot of an airplane that was on short final for the same airport. The pilot that was on short final reported that he would report when he was clear of the runway, and he did. The commuter pilot acknowledged the other pilot’s clear-of-runway transmission and initiated the approach. As the pilot began the transition to land, she noticed that the airplane that she had communicated with was not clear of the runway. The airplane on the ground was near the runway 23 numbers with the propeller turning facing toward her landing airplane. She aborted the landing, but the airplane did not climb. The airplane impacted the runway hard and bounced. She reported that, when the airplane touched down after the bounce, she “applied left rudder pedal to steer the aircraft off the runway and out of the way of the other aircraft’s possible flight path.” The airplane exited the left side of the runway and ground-looped to the left. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right side of the fuselage and the right wing. Markings on the runway show the propeller struck the runway multiple times in a low pitch configuration before it became feathered. After the groundloop, the pilot of the airplane near the runway 23 numbers attempted to take off. He was contacted via radio transmission by the airport manager and told that the runway was closed until further notice. According to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) safety inspector, the FAA’s postaccident examination of the accident airplane determined that there were no preimpact mechanical anomalies with the airplane that would have prevented normal operation.
Probable cause(s): The pilot’s attempted aborted landing late in the landing sequence because she saw another airplane on the runway facing her with its propeller turning, which resulted in a hard landing, a subsequent loss of directional control, and ground loop.
Note: The report republished here is from the NTSB and is printed verbatim and in its complete form.
