# Incident 20180806010349I: Piper PA-44-180, Trenton, NJ, August 6, 2018

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: August 6, 2018, 14:15 local time
- Place: Trenton, NJ
- Airport: Trenton-Mercer
- Damage: Minor damage
- Phase of flight: Landing: Touchdown
- Location: 40.2767° N, 74.8135° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs at TRENTON MERCER (TTN), within about a mile (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=40.2767&lon=-74.8135&mi=10
- Aircraft: N263AT, registered now (https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N263AT) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Piper PA-44-180 (registry code 7104402, https://openairdocs.org/model/piper-pa-44-180) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: Lycoming O-360 series (registry code 41575, https://openairdocs.org/engine/lycoming-o-360-series) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: PIPER PA-44-180
- Reported engine: LYCOMING O-360 SERIES
- People aboard: 2
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Other injuries: 0
- Pilot certificates: Commercial pilot, flight instructor, private pilot, student
- Pilot flight hours: 500 total, 80 in this make and model, 30 in the last 90 days
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20180806010349I

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

8/6/2018 PILOT ON MULTI-ENGINE TRAINING FLIGHT DEPARTED TTN WITH KBLM AS DESTINATION.

WHEN ENTERING DOWNWIND LEG AT KBLM, GEAR DOWN CHECKLIST STARTED. WHEN GEAR HANDLE PLACED IN THE DOWN POSITION, THE LEFT MAIN GEAR (DOWN AND LOCKED) INDICATOR FAILED TO ILLUMINATE (GREEN) AND THE MASTER GEAR UNSAFE WARNING (RED) LIGHT WAS ILLUMINATED WITH ASSOCIATED AURAL TONE.

THE GEAR SWITCH WAS CYCLED BUT GEAR WOULD NOT RETRACT. THE GEAR SWITCH WAS PLACED BACK IN THE DOWN POSITION AND REMAINED THERE FOR THE DURATION OF THE FLIGHT.

THE PILOT ATTEMPTED SOME ?G? MANEUVERS TO HELP THE LEFT MAIN GEAR TRANSITION TO THE FULL DOWN AND LOCKED POSITION AND HE REVIEWED ATP MANUAL GEAR EXTENSION CHECKLIST BUT HIS EFFORTS DID NOT RESOLVE THE SITUATION.

PILOT AND STUDENT CHECKED INDICATOR BULBS, CIRCUIT BREAKERS AND RAN THROUGH (I.E REVIEWED) THE ATP MANUAL GEAR EXTENSION CHECKLIST AGAIN, STILL NO HELP.

PILOT RETURNED TO KTTN AND INFORMED AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL OF HIS SITUATION.

HE REQUESTED A LOW APPROACH BY THE ATC TOWER, TO ALLOW ATC TO VISUALLY SEE IF THE LEFT MAIN GEAR WAS IN FACT DOWN.

THE TOWER REPORTED THAT THE LEFT MAIN GEAR APPEARED TO BE DOWN.

FOLLOWING THIS (ATC) CONFIRMATION, THE PILOT DECIDED TO CONFIGURE THE AIRCRAFT FOR LANDING AT KTTN.

DURING APPROACH (DOWNWIND LEG ), IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE ATP INTEGRATED FLIGHT FLOW CHECKLIST, THE PILOT PULLED THE EMERGENCY GEAR EXTENSION KNOB BUT THIS AGAIN DID NOT FIX THE PROBLEM, THE LEFT MAIN GEAR INDICATION WAS STILL NOT ILLUMINATED AND THE MASTER GEAR UNSAFE WARNING (RED) LIGHT WAS ILLUMINATED WITH ASSOCIATED AURAL TONE HEARD. THE PILOT DECLARED AN EMERGENCY.

AS PRECAUTIONARY, THE PILOT SHUT DOWN THE NUMBER 1 ENGINE AND FEATHERED THE PROP ON FINAL APPROACH TO AVOID PROP STRIKE AND ENGINE DAMAGE, AND UNLATCHED THE DOOR IN PREPARATION FOR EXIT.

THE AIRCRAFT TOUCHED DOWN (TTN RUNWAY 24) PRIMARILY ON THE RIGHT MAIN GEAR AND THEN SOFTLY ON TO THE LEFT. AS THE LEFT GEAR TOUCHED DOWN THE PILOT COULD FEEL THE GEAR BEGIN TO COLLAPSE BENEATH HIM. HE IMMEDIATELY SHUT DOWN NUMBER 2 ENGINE AND SET THE AIRCRAFT DOWN AS SOFT AS POSSIBLE.

THE AIRCRAFT CAME TO REST ON RUNWAY 24 WITH THE LEFT MAIN GEAR COLLAPSED.

THERE WERE NO INJURIES, NO DAMAGE TO ENGINES OR PROPELLERS AND INITIAL INSPECTION OF THE AIRCRAFT SHOWS MINOR DAMAGE TO THE LEFT WING UNDERSIDE. DAMAGE DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE SUBSTANTIAL.

## Other reports on N263AT (1)

Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.

- [Incident 20150911020699I](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20150911020699I), Sep 11, 2015: Piper PA-44-180 (N263AT), Morristown, NJ, Minor damage. Aircraft departed Morristown Airport (kmmu) heading to islip (kisp). After take-off the pilot attemped to retract the landing gear and was given a transit horn…

From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft 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. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record.

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