20000716035199I

Incident · Minor damage

FAA incident report · Piper PA-24-250 · Farmville, VA · July 16, 2000

Date: July 16, 2000 · 12:30 local
Place: Farmville, VA
Airport: Farmville Municipal Airport
Phase of flight: Level Off Touchdown
Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
Damage: Minor damage
Aircraft: N5333P
Reported as: Piper PA24250
Reported engine: Lycoming IO540C1B5
People aboard: 1
Fatal injuries: 0
Pilot’s flight hours: 4,000 total30 in this make and model30 in the last 90 days

N5333PRegistered now · Piper PA-24-250S/N 24-378 · Built 1958 Airframe modelPiper PA-24-250 Engine modelLycoming 0-540 seriesReciprocating

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.

(-23)The aircraft was on local flight from fvx. The pilot attempted to call the UNICOM for landing , but his radios did not work and he could not get the landing gear down. After cirling the airport attempting to lower the landing gear, the aircraft landed gear up with minor damage and no injuries. The investigation revealed that the radios and landing gear worked normal. Due to the pilot seat location and switch location the pilot had trouble seeing the switches. He was cycling the boost pump switch instead of the battery master switch. There was no flight manual onboard and the pilot could not remember how to extend the landing gear in emergency mode. The pilot had only a brief aircraft checkout.

As the FAA filed it

(-23)THE AIRCRAFT WAS ON LOCAL FLIGHT FROM FVX. THE PILOT ATTEMPTED TO CALL THE UNICOM FOR LANDING , BUT HIS RADIOS DID NOT WORK AND HE COULD NOT GET THE LANDING GEAR DOWN. AFTER CIRLING THE AIRPORT ATTEMPTING TO LOWER THE LANDING GEAR, THE AIRCRAFT LANDED GEAR UP WITH MINOR DAMAGE AND NO INJURIES. THE INVESTIGATION REVEALED THAT THE RADIOS AND LANDING GEAR WORKED NORMAL. DUE TO THE PILOT SEAT LOCATION AND SWITCH LOCATION THE PILOT HAD TROUBLE SEEING THE SWITCHES. HE WAS CYCLING THE BOOST PUMP SWITCH INSTEAD OF THE BATTERY MASTER SWITCH.THERE WAS NO FLIGHT MANUAL ONBOARD AND THE PILOT COULD NOT REMEMBER HOW TO EXTEND THE LANDING GEAR IN EMERGENCY MODE. THE PILOT HAD ONLY A BRIEF AIRCRAFT CHECKOUT.