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20180523005839I

Incident · Minor damage
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FAA incident report · Piper PA-31-350 · Fort Lauderdale, FL · May 23, 2018

FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal

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Date
May 23, 2018 · 15:19 local
Place
Fort Lauderdale, FL
Airport
Fort Lauderdale Executive
Phase of flight
Landing: Approach
Operating rules
Air taxi and commuter (Part 135)
Operator
M7JA
Damage
Minor damage
Aircraft
N3525G
Reported as
Piper PA-31-350
Reported engine
Lycoming TI0-540 series
People aboard
1
Fatal injuries
0
Other injuries
0
Pilot’s certificate
Airline transport
Pilot’s flight hours
27,500 total78 in this make and model78 in the last 90 days
N3525GRegistration cancelled Mar 5, 2022 · Piper PA-31-350S/N 31-7952123 · Built 1979Airframe modelPiper PA-31-350Engine 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.

During landing approach, attempted to lower landing gear, the landing gear did not come down. Recycled the landing gear lever and landing gear did not come down. Conducted emergency landing gear down procedures and the landing gear did not move down. Landed the aircraft with the landing gear up. Fxe airport was in radio contact to clear runway for emergency landing. Aircraft landed smoothly with damage to the bottom of aircraft. No injuries reported. Conducted inspection of aircraft and aircraft records. Nothing noted to aircraft records check. Inspection of aircraft revealed that the hydraulic reservoir was empty. Further inspection revealed hydraulic leakage on the l/h engine. L/h engine hydraulic leakage was found at the hydraulic out line through the engine firewall. The hydraulic out line from l/h engine was chafing on the alternate air pull cable through the firewall. The alternate air pull cable chaffed through the hydraulic line causing the hydraulic fluid to spray out into the l/h wing cavity. Pilot interview revealed the PIC did not clearly understand how to operate the emergency landing gear pump handle. PIC stated he pulled out the emergency landing gear pump handle and started to pump. The pumping of the handle got harder to push down, so the PIC discontinued to pump the emergency landing gear pump handle. The PIC stated he only pumped the handle about 10 times before it got to hard to push down.

As the FAA filed it

DURING LANDING APPROACH, ATTEMPTED TO LOWER LANDING GEAR, THE LANDING GEAR DID NOT COME DOWN. RECYCLED THE LANDING GEAR LEVER AND LANDING GEAR DID NOT COME DOWN. CONDUCTED EMERGENCY LANDING GEAR DOWN PROCEDURES AND THE LANDING GEAR DID NOT MOVE DOWN. LANDED THE AIRCRAFT WITH THE LANDING GEAR UP. FXE AIRPORT WAS IN RADIO CONTACT TO CLEAR RUNWAY FOR EMERGENCY LANDING. AIRCRAFT LANDED SMOOTHLY WITH DAMAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF AIRCRAFT. NO INJURIES REPORTED. CONDUCTED INSPECTION OF AIRCRAFT AND AIRCRAFT RECORDS. NOTHING NOTED TO AIRCRAFT RECORDS CHECK. INSPECTION OF AIRCRAFT REVEALED THAT THE HYDRAULIC RESERVOIR WAS EMPTY. FURTHER INSPECTION REVEALED HYDRAULIC LEAKAGE ON THE L/H ENGINE. L/H ENGINE HYDRAULIC LEAKAGE WAS FOUND AT THE HYDRAULIC OUT LINE THROUGH THE ENGINE FIREWALL. THE HYDRAULIC OUT LINE FROM L/H ENGINE WAS CHAFING ON THE ALTERNATE AIR PULL CABLE THROUGH THE FIREWALL. THE ALTERNATE AIR PULL CABLE CHAFFED THROUGH THE HYDRAULIC LINE CAUSING THE HYDRAULIC FLUID TO SPRAY OUT INTO THE L/H WING CAVITY. PILOT INTERVIEW REVEALED THE PIC DID NOT CLEARLY UNDERSTAND HOW TO OPERATE THE EMERGENCY LANDING GEAR PUMP HANDLE. PIC STATED HE PULLED OUT THE EMERGENCY LANDING GEAR PUMP HANDLE AND STARTED TO PUMP. THE PUMPING OF THE HANDLE GOT HARDER TO PUSH DOWN, SO THE PIC DISCONTINUED TO PUMP THE EMERGENCY LANDING GEAR PUMP HANDLE. THE PIC STATED HE ONLY PUMPED THE HANDLE ABOUT 10 TIMES BEFORE IT GOT TO HARD TO PUSH DOWN.