NYC95LA120

Factual narrative

On May 23, 1995, about 2045 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 177B, N621PW, was substantially damaged during the landing at the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton Airport (ABE), Allentown, Pennsylvania. The private pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed. The personal flight had departed the Allentown Queen City Municipal Airport at 2025, and was being conducted under 14 CFR Part 91. The pilot stated on the NTSB Form 6120.1/2, that he touched down on runway 24 on the main wheels first. He then stated: ...the aircraft touched then ballooned (porpoised) back up into the air and came back down on the nose wheel settling on the runway. I contacted the tower and requested to taxi to a hanger to check the airplane damage after the hard landing...after taxiing to the hanger I discovered the damage.... Runway 24 at ABE Airport was 7,600 feet long and 150 feet wide. According to the pilot, the winds at the time of the accident were from 190 degrees at 9 knots, and no gusts. At the time of the accident, the pilot's total flight time was 209.0 hours, of which 123.4 hours were in this make and model airplane. The pilot wrote on the NTSB Form 6120.1/2, that he had 101 hours in this make and model airplane. The airplane bounced during a hard land, damaging the nose wheel, propeller,and engine firewall. According to the pilot, '...I was on short final to runway 24 and set up for the approach to land. When above the runway, and in the landing configuration, the aircraft touched down on the main wheels first, then ballooned (porpoised) back up into the air, and came back down on the nose wheel...' Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12