VIDEO and NTSB REPORT: Follow up on Cessna takes a swim

The NTSB has published its prelminary report on the Cessna 550 that plunged into the shallow water off the end of a too-short runway at the Dare County regional airport in Manteo, NC on 1 October. I put out a short blog on this earlier in the week.

"Examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector found that the airplane had landed just past the Delta Intersection about 1700 feet down runway 23, with about 2100 feet of runway remaining," the report reads. "The airplane exited the end of runway 23, substantially damaging the wings, and fuselage."

Wow - that would have been a short-field landing and a half had the pilot pulled it off.

Further, the NTSB says: "Witnesses on the airport stated that they observed the airplane on approach. They watched as it came over the threshold to runway 23 at a steep rate of descent, touching down just west of the Delta Intersection. The witnesses observed the reversers deploy for the remainder of the landing roll. As the airplane neared the end of runway 23 witnesses stated that it appeared that the airplane was sliding a bit sideways. The airplane slid off the end of runway 23 and came to rest about 50 feet into the Croatan Sound. As witnesses arrived at the accident site all of the occupants had exited the airplane and were climbing up the "rip rap" embankment."

Here's some video of the extraction process. Ouch...