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20160206000049I

Incident · Minor damage
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FAA incident report · Piper PA-24-250 · Eureka, KS · February 6, 2016

FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal

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Date
February 6, 2016 · 09:36 local
Place
Eureka, KS
Airport
Lt. William M. Milliken Airpor
Phase of flight
Landing: Touchdown
Operating rules
General operating rules (Part 91)
Damage
Minor damage
Aircraft
N8381P
Reported as
Piper PA-24-250
Reported engine
Lycoming 0-540 series
People aboard
1
Fatal injuries
0
Other injuries
0
Pilot’s certificate
Private pilot
N8381PRegistered now · Piper PA-24-250S/N 24-3640Airframe modelPiper PA-24-250Engine 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.

The pilot stated that while performing touch and go landings on the second approach to landing he lost electrical power while extending the landing gear. He then attempted to complete the extension of the landing gear by using the emergency extension system. He was unable to successfully disengage the landing gear transmission that allows the landing gear to extend to the down and locked position. He stated that he attempted without success several times. He then landed with a partially extended landing gear on the runway. During the onsite investigation it was found that the battery was low, (3%) capacity. The alternator out light system was faulty. The pilot stated that the alternator out light was working at the time of pre-engine start. And possibly the alternator was faulty, to be determined. The faulty alternator out light allowed the pilot to not be alerted to the battery not being charged in flight allowing the battery to run low and shut down the electrical system during the lowering of the landing gear the last time.

As the FAA filed it

THE PILOT STATED THAT WHILE PERFORMING TOUCH AND GO LANDINGS ON THE SECOND APPROACH TO LANDING HE LOST ELECTRICAL POWER WHILE EXTENDING THE LANDING GEAR. HE THEN ATTEMPTED TO COMPLETE THE EXTENSION OF THE LANDING GEAR BY USING THE EMERGENCY EXTENSION SYSTEM. HE WAS UNABLE TO SUCCESSFULLY DISENGAGE THE LANDING GEAR TRANSMISSION THAT ALLOWS THE LANDING GEAR TO EXTEND TO THE DOWN AND LOCKED POSITION. HE STATED THAT HE ATTEMPTED WITHOUT SUCCESS SEVERAL TIMES. HE THEN LANDED WITH A PARTIALLY EXTENDED LANDING GEAR ON THE RUNWAY. DURING THE ONSITE INVESTIGATION IT WAS FOUND THAT THE BATTERY WAS LOW, (3%) CAPACITY. THE ALTERNATOR OUT LIGHT SYSTEM WAS FAULTY. THE PILOT STATED THAT THE ALTERNATOR OUT LIGHT WAS WORKING AT THE TIME OF PRE-ENGINE START. AND POSSIBLY THE ALTERNATOR WAS FAULTY, TO BE DETERMINED. THE FAULTY ALTERNATOR OUT LIGHT ALLOWED THE PILOT TO NOT BE ALERTED TO THE BATTERY NOT BEING CHARGED IN FLIGHT ALLOWING THE BATTERY TO RUN LOW AND SHUT DOWN THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM DURING THE LOWERING OF THE LANDING GEAR THE LAST TIME.