# Incident 19971224043579I: Piper PA28201T, Santa Monica, CA, December 24, 1997

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: December 24, 1997, 14:00 local time
- Place: Santa Monica, CA
- Airport: Santa Monica Municipal Airport
- Damage: Minor damage
- Phase of flight: Ground Taxi, Other Airplane
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 34.0158° N, 118.4513° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs at SANTA MONICA MUNI (SMO), within about a mile (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=34.0158&lon=-118.4513&mi=10
- Aircraft: N4068Q, registered now (https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N4068Q) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Piper PA-28R-201T (registry code 7102813, https://openairdocs.org/model/piper-pa-28r-201t) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: Continental TSIO-360 series (registry code 17019, https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-tsio-360-series) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: PIPER PA28201T
- People aboard: 1
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Pilot flight hours: 360 total, 125 in this make and model, 110 in the last 90 days
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/19971224043579I

## Narrative

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

NARRATIVE: PILOT STATED THAT WHEN HE TURNED ONTO THE RUNWAY, THE GREEN DOWNLOCK LANDING GEAR INDICATORS "FLICKERED" AND THE RIGHT LANDING GEAR FOLDED INTO THE GEAR WELL. UPON INSPECTION, BEFORE MOVING THE AIRCRAFT TO A MAINTENANCE HANGAR, THE LEFT GEAR WAS ALSO UNLOCKED. THE MAINTENANCE PERSONNEL PHYSICALLY LOCKED THE DOWN LOCK INTO POSITION BEFORE MOVING THE AIRCRAFT TO A MAINTENANCE HANGAR FOR DAMAGE ASSESSMENT. THE AIRCRAFT HAD A SIMILAR INCIDENT IN AUGUST OF 1997, WHERE THE LEFT GEAR FOLDED. REPAIRS TO AIRCRAFT: THE RETRACT SWITCH, ANTI-RETRACT SWITCH AND THE CONTROLLER FOR THE UPSIDE OF THE POWER PACK HAVE BEEN CHANGED. AIRCRAFT HAS BEEN TESTED BOTH STATIC AND IN FLIGHT. ALL SYSTEMS SEEM TO OPERATE NORMALLY. THE AIRCRAFT HAS FLOWN REGULARLY SINCE THE REPAIRS HAVE BEEN COMPLETED AND ALL SYSTEMS SEEM TO OPERATE AS PER DESIGN. NO OTHER PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED. THIS REPORT IS CLOSED.

## Other reports on N4068Q (1)

Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.

- [Incident 19970811028089I](https://openairdocs.org/incident/19970811028089I), Aug 11, 1997: Piper PA28R201T (N4068Q), Carlsbad, CA, Minor damage. Noted unsafe light left gear on takeoff roll. Aborted. Gear collapsed. Exited runway. 40HRS after annual inspection

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.
