20130219001639I

Incident · Substantial damage

FAA incident report · Piper AEROSTAR 601P · Merritt Island, FL · February 19, 2013

Date
February 19, 2013 · 07:31 local
Place
Merritt Island, FL
Airport
Merritt Island Airport
Phase of flight
Other, Specify
Operating rules
General operating rules (Part 91)
Damage
Substantial damage
Aircraft
N601HM
Reported as
Piper Aerostar 601P
Reported engine
Lycoming IO-540 series
People aboard
1
Fatal injuries
0
Other injuries
0
Pilot’s certificate
Commercial pilot
Pilot’s flight hours
4,000 total350 in this make and model10 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.

While on downwind leg for Merritt Island Airport the instrument panel started filling the cockpit with smoke.

The pilot turned off the master switch and failed to lower the landing gear.

As the FAA filed it

WHILE ON DOWNWIND LEG FOR MERRITT ISLAND AIRPORT THE INSTRUMENT PANEL STARTED FILLING THE COCKPIT WITH SMOKE.

THE PILOT TURNED OFF THE MASTER SWITCH AND FAILED TO LOWER THE LANDING GEAR.