20170526005639I

Incident · Minor damage

FAA incident report · Mooney M-20G · Palmer, AK · May 26, 2017

Date
May 26, 2017 · 15:00 local
Place
Palmer, AK
Airport
Palmer
Phase of flight
Landing: Touchdown
Operating rules
General operating rules (Part 91)
Damage
Minor damage
Aircraft
N78TB
Reported as
Mooney M-20G
People aboard
2
Fatal injuries
0
Other injuries
0
Pilot’s certificate
Private pilot
Pilot’s flight hours
927 total12 in this make and model35 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.

Incident took place on commercial checkride with a designated pilot examiner. Gear handle operates in the opposite direction - when the gear handle is in the down position the gear is actually up & when the gear is in the up position the gear is down. Return flight back to Palmer the winds had increased substantially and the first attempt to land resulted in a go-around and switching to another runway. The second attempt was successful. To complete the commercial checkride the airman needed to complete one more landing. Unfortunately, the last landing resulted with the gear up- although the airman made the call out (twice) that the gear was down and physically pointed at the gear handle. The windy conditions may have raised the stress level and prompted primacy to arise with the gear handle operating in reverse.

As the FAA filed it

INCIDENT TOOK PLACE ON COMMERCIAL CHECKRIDE WITH A DESIGNATED PILOT EXAMINER. GEAR HANDLE OPERATES IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION - WHEN THE GEAR HANDLE IS IN THE DOWN POSITION THE GEAR IS ACTUALLY UP & WHEN THE GEAR IS IN THE UP POSITION THE GEAR IS DOWN. RETURN FLIGHT BACK TO PALMER THE WINDS HAD INCREASED SUBSTANTIALLY AND THE FIRST ATTEMPT TO LAND RESULTED IN A GO-AROUND AND SWITCHING TO ANOTHER RUNWAY. THE SECOND ATTEMPT WAS SUCCESSFUL. TO COMPLETE THE COMMERCIAL CHECKRIDE THE AIRMAN NEEDED TO COMPLETE ONE MORE LANDING. UNFORTUNATELY, THE LAST LANDING RESULTED WITH THE GEAR UP- ALTHOUGH THE AIRMAN MADE THE CALL OUT (TWICE) THAT THE GEAR WAS DOWN AND PHYSICALLY POINTED AT THE GEAR HANDLE. THE WINDY CONDITIONS MAY HAVE RAISED THE STRESS LEVEL AND PROMPTED PRIMACY TO ARISE WITH THE GEAR HANDLE OPERATING IN REVERSE.