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20100320030699I

Incident · Minor damage
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FAA incident report · Piper PA-32R-300 · Edgewater, MD · March 20, 2010

FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal

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Date
March 20, 2010 · 16:05 local
Place
Edgewater, MD
Airport
Lee Airport
Phase of flight
Landing: Rollout
Operating rules
General operating rules (Part 91)
Damage
Minor damage
Aircraft
N154BJ
Reported as
Piper PA-32R-300
Reported engine
Lycoming TI0-540 series
People aboard
1
Fatal injuries
0
Other injuries
0
Pilot’s certificate
Commercial pilot
Pilot’s flight hours
14,328 total186 in this make and model52 in the last 90 days
N154BJRegistered now · Piper PA-32R-300S/N 32R-7780251 · Built 1977Airframe modelPiper PA-32R-300Engine modelLycoming TI0-540 seriesTurbo-prop

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.

Enroute to anp, the aircraft started slowing down. A scan of the instruments revealed no engine problems. Then the red gear warning light came on and the two main green down and locked lights came on. The pilot slowed to 90K and tried fishtailing the aircraft and operating the gear handle, the two green lights stayed on and the nose stayed out. When operating the gear handle, no pump noise was heard. Pilot did a flyby and cfi's on ground said gear looked to be locked. When gear handle was cylcled again, three green came on when handle was up and went out when handle was down. Pilot elected to land with three green although the handle was in the up position. During roll out, the gear slowly collapsed causing minor damage to the aircraft. On 4/5/2010 I scheduled a test of the gear at a maintenance facility. Initially, the gear pump ran intermittanly and the nose gear light flickered but the gear would not retract. Repeated attempts could not get it to work. Manually shaking wires and limit switches caused the nose gear light to flicker. Manually dropping the gear showed that the right gear down lock would not lock. This report will be amended when the cause of the malfunction is found.

As the FAA filed it

ENROUTE TO ANP, THE AIRCRAFT STARTED SLOWING DOWN. A SCAN OF THE INSTRUMENTS REVEALED NO ENGINE PROBLEMS. THEN THE RED GEAR WARNING LIGHT CAME ON AND THE TWO MAIN GREEN DOWN AND LOCKED LIGHTS CAME ON. THE PILOT SLOWED TO 90K AND TRIED FISHTAILING THE AIRCRAFT AND OPERATING THE GEAR HANDLE, THE TWO GREEN LIGHTS STAYED ON AND THE NOSE STAYED OUT. WHEN OPERATING THE GEAR HANDLE, NO PUMP NOISE WAS HEARD. PILOT DID A FLYBY AND CFI'S ON GROUND SAID GEAR LOOKED TO BE LOCKED. WHEN GEAR HANDLE WAS CYLCLED AGAIN, THREE GREEN CAME ON WHEN HANDLE WAS UP AND WENT OUT WHEN HANDLE WAS DOWN. PILOT ELECTED TO LAND WITH THREE GREEN ALTHOUGH THE HANDLE WAS IN THE UP POSITION. DURING ROLL OUT, THE GEAR SLOWLY COLLAPSED CAUSING MINOR DAMAGE TO THE AIRCRAFT. ON 4/5/2010 I SCHEDULED A TEST OF THE GEAR AT A MAINTENANCE FACILITY. INITIALLY, THE GEAR PUMP RAN INTERMITTANLY AND THE NOSE GEAR LIGHT FLICKERED BUT THE GEAR WOULD NOT RETRACT. REPEATED ATTEMPTS COULD NOT GET IT TO WORK. MANUALLY SHAKING WIRES AND LIMIT SWITCHES CAUSED THE NOSE GEAR LIGHT TO FLICKER. MANUALLY DROPPING THE GEAR SHOWED THAT THE RIGHT GEAR DOWN LOCK WOULD NOT LOCK. THIS REPORT WILL BE AMENDED WHEN THE CAUSE OF THE MALFUNCTION IS FOUND.