# Incident 19961221044649I: Beech 76, Carlsbad, CA, December 21, 1996

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: December 21, 1996, 12:46 local time
- Place: Carlsbad, CA
- Airport: Mcclellan-Palomar
- Damage: Minor damage
- Phase of flight: Touch And Go Landing
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 33.1283° N, 117.2801° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs at MC CLELLAN-PALOMAR (CRQ), within about a mile (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=33.1283&lon=-117.2801&mi=10
- Aircraft: N6015Y (not matched to a registry record)
- Reported make and model: BEECH 76
- People aboard: 3
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Pilot flight hours: 1,350 total, 170 in this make and model, 180 in the last 90 days
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/19961221044649I

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

NARRATIVE: ON DECEMBER 21, 1996, AT 1246 PST, GERALD WARD, PILOT IN COMMAND OF N6015Y, A BEECH BE-76 AIRPLANE, EXPERIENCED AN UNCOMMANDED NOSE GEAR RETRACTION DURING TAKEOFF ROLL FOLLOWING A TOUCH AND GO LANDING. PIC WARD WAS FLYING FROM THE RIGHT SEAT OF THE AIRCRAFT AND HAD REMOVED FULL FLAPS AND WAS APPLYING FULL POWER WHEN THE NOSE OF THE AIRCRAFT DROPPED. THE AIRCRAFT SUSTAINED MINOR DAMAGE TO NOSE SECTION AND GEAR DOORS AND PROPELLERS CONTACTED THE GROUND. NEITHER WARD NOR HIS 2 PASSENGERS SUSTAINED ANY INJURIES. THE AIRCRAFT SUSTAINED NO OTHER DAMAGE. PASSENGER, RICH TRAHAN, SEATED IN THE LEFT SEAT MADE THE STATEMENT THAT HE HAD HIT THE GEAR HANDLE WITH HIS KNEE AND HAD FORCED IT IN THE UP POSITION. THE GEAR HANDLE IS LOCATED ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE LEFT INSTRUMENT PANEL DIRECTLY ABOVE MR. TRAHAN'S KNEE. MR. TRAHAN IS A VERY LARGE INDIVIDUAL AND WITH HIS FEET PULLED BACK AWAY FROM THE RUDDER PEDALS HIS KNEES ARE EXTREMELY CLOSE TO THE GEAR HANDLE. INSPECTION OF THE GEAR HANDLE AND OPERATIONAL CHECK OF THE GEAR SYSTEM REVEALED NO DEFECTS. THIS INCIDENT IS NOT RELATED TO NMAC OR PILOT DEVIATION.

From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record.

---
OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.