19970709021899I

Incident · Minor damage

FAA incident report · Piper PA32RT300 · Napa, CA · July 9, 1997

Date: July 9, 1997 · 14:00 local
Place: Napa, CA
Airport: Napa County Airport
Phase of flight: Fcd/Prec Ldg From Cruise
Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
Damage: Minor damage
Aircraft: N31419
Reported as: Piper PA32RT300
People aboard: 2
Fatal injuries: 0
Pilot’s flight hours: 754 total58 in this make and model11 in the last 90 days

From the FAA’s Accident/Incident Data System (AIDS), through its Aviation Safety Information Portal, as reported. The NTSB investigates accidents separately, and its record of an accident is the fuller one. The aircraft is matched to the registry 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.

What happened

The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.

Narrative: the alternator on the aircraft failed enroute from sacramento, CA. To Napa, CA. And went un-noticed by the pilot. As a result the battery was dead when the pilot tried to reach the Napa ATCT. The pilot attempted to extend the landing gear using the emergency gear extension procedure. The gear failed to extend and the aircraft landed with the gear in the retracted position.

As the FAA filed it

NARRATIVE: THE ALTERNATOR ON THE AIRCRAFT FAILED ENROUTE FROM SACRAMENTO, CA. TO NAPA, CA. AND WENT UN-NOTICED BY THE PILOT. AS A RESULT THE BATTERY WAS DEAD WHEN THE PILOT TRIED TO REACH THE NAPA ATCT. THE PILOT ATTEMPTED TO EXTEND THE LANDING GEAR USING THE EMERGENCY GEAR EXTENSION PROCEDURE. THE GEAR FAILED TO EXTEND AND THE AIRCRAFT LANDED WITH THE GEAR IN THE RETRACTED POSITION.