# Incident 19981221042129I: Piper PA34200T, La Verne, CA, December 21, 1998 - Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported - Date: December 21, 1998, 15:45 local time - Place: La Verne, CA - Airport: Brackett Field Airport - Damage: Minor damage - Phase of flight: Roll-Out (Fixed Wing) - Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91) - Location: 34.0917° N, 117.7818° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs at BRACKETT FLD (POC), within about a mile (OpenAirDocs) - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=34.0917&lon=-117.7818&mi=10 - Aircraft: N4581T, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N4581T-2014-10-14) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry model: Piper PA-34-200 (registry code 7103405, https://openairdocs.org/model/piper-pa-34-200) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: Lycoming I0360 series (registry code 41515, https://openairdocs.org/engine/lycoming-i0360-series) (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: PIPER PA34200T - Reported engine: LYC IO360C1E6 - People aboard: 2 - Fatal injuries: 0 - Pilot flight hours: 560 total, 38 in this make and model, 200 in the last 90 days - FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/) - Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/19981221042129I ## Narrative As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^. (-5)THE FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR, J. BILLOTIN, WAS GIVING AN INSTRUCTIONAL FLIGHT IN N5481T, A PIPER SENECA AT BRACKETT AIRPORT AT APPROXIMATELY 3:30 PM PST. HIS STUDENT, SITTING IN THE LEFT SEAT, WAS MR. S. RODRIGUEZ. MR. RODRIGUEZ WAS TRAINING FOR A MULTI-ENGINE CLASS RATING TO BE ADDED TO HIS PILOT CERTIFICATE. THE AIRCRAFT WAS ALIGNED WITH RUNWAY 26L AND GIVEN CLEARANCE TO TAKEOFF FROM THE TOWER. UPON CLIMBOUT, WHEN THE LANDING GEAR WAS RAISED, THE INSTRUCTOR NOTICED THAT THE RED GEAR UNSAFE LIGHT WAS ILLUMINATED. THINKING THERE WAS A GEAR PROBLEM, HE IMMEDIATELY LOWERED THE LANDING GEAR AFTER WHICH THE 3 GREEN GEAR SAFE LIGHTS ILLUMINATED AND THE RED UNSAFE LIGHT EXTINGUISHED. HE DECIDED TO RECYCLE THE LANDING GEAR SEVERAL TIMES ON CLIMBOUT, EACH TIME THE RED UNSAFE LIGHT WOULD COME ON WITH THE GEAR RETRACTED AND THE 3 GREEN SAFE LIGHT WOULD COME ON WITH THE GEAR EXTENDED. IN THE EXTENDED POSITION THE RED UNSAFE LIGHT WOULD EXTINGUISH. MR. BILLOTIN FLEW A RIGHT CROSSWIND AND THEN TURNED TO THE RIGHT DOWNWIND. ONCE ABEAM THE TOWER, HE NOTIFIED CONTROLLERS OF HIS SITUATION. HE DESCRIBED THE PROBLEM TO ATCT AND STATED THAT HE THOUGHT HE MAY HAVE UNSAFE GEAR AND WANTED TO LAND. THE TOWER APPROVED A LOW APPROACH TO RUNWAY 26R SO THAT THE CONTROLLERS MIGHT VISUALLY CHECK THE GEAR POSITION FOR THE PILOT. ABEAM THE TOWER, TWO CONTROLLERS VIEWED THE UNDERCARRIAGE OF THE AIRCRAFT WITH BINOCULARS AND TOLD THE PILOT THAT THE POSITION OF THE LANDING GEAR APPEARED DOWN. THE AIRCRAFT WAS CLEARED FOR A LEFT CROSSWIND TO A LEFT DOWNWIND AND CLEARED TO LAND ON RUNWAY 26L. MR. BILLOTIN, FLYING THE AIRCRAFT, AND MR. RODRIGUEZ, WORKING THE THROTTLES, SET UP FOR A SOFT FIELD LANDING AS A PRECAUTION. THE FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR LANDING AS SOFTLY AS POSSIBLE ON THE MAIN GEAR AND ALLOWED THE NOSE GEAR TO SLOWLY DESCEND TO THE RUNWAY SURFACE. ONCE THE NOSE WHEEL CONTACTED THE RUNWAY SURFACE, IT PROVIDED NO SUPPORT FOR THE NOSE ITSELF, AND ALLOWED IT (THE NOSE OF THE AIRCRAFT) TO SLOWLY DESCEND TO THE RUNWAY SURFACE. AT APPROXIAMTELY 20 KNOTS THE NOSE FUSELAGE CONTACTED THE RUNWAY AND IN DOING SO, ALLOWED THE PORPELLERS OF BOTH ENGINES TO CONTACT THE SURFACE. WITH THE PROPELLERS OPERATING AT LOW RPM, THE ENGINES STOPPED ONCE SURFACE CONTACT WAS MADE. THE AIRCRAFT STOPPED BETWEEN TAXIWAY DELTA AND ECHO OF RUNWAY 26L, APPROXIMATELY 2500'FEET FROM THE APPROACH END OF THE RUNWAY. DAMAGE WAS LIMITED TO THE PROPELLERS, BOTH ENGINES, AND THE UNDERSIDE OF THE NOSE SECTION OF THE AIRCRAFT. NEITHER OF THE TWO OCCUPANTS OF THE AIRCRAFT WERE INJURED. ## Other reports on N4581T (3) Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date. - [Incident 19980706026319I](https://openairdocs.org/incident/19980706026319I), Jul 6, 1998: Piper PA34200 (N4581T), Chino, CA, Minor damage. Post incident investigation revealed that a foreign object (a screw) had penetrated the tire, causing the tire to lose air pressure, resulting in a loss of… - [Incident 19950320008939I](https://openairdocs.org/incident/19950320008939I), Mar 20, 1995: Piper PA34200 (N4581T), Camarillo, CA, Minor damage. Narrative: the pilot stated "on rollout the nosegear collapsed..." He further stated "we lowered the landing gear before the final approach fix and did get… - [Incident 19831203075599I](https://openairdocs.org/incident/19831203075599I), Dec 3, 1983: Piper PA34200 (N4581T), Hayward, WI, Minor damage. Unable to lock down the nose gear landed gear up. 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.