OpenAirDocs.org

20190304000889I

Incident · Minor damage
Open the Markdown

FAA incident report · Piper PA-24-250 · Borrego Springs, CA · March 4, 2019

FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal

© OpenStreetMap
Date
March 4, 2019 · 12:00 local
Place
Borrego Springs, CA
Phase of flight
Landing: Touchdown
Operating rules
General operating rules (Part 91)
Damage
Minor damage
Aircraft
N5449P
Reported as
Piper PA-24-250
Reported engine
Lycoming 0-540 series
People aboard
1
Fatal injuries
0
Other injuries
0
N5449PRegistration cancelled Aug 14, 2020 · Piper PA-24-250S/N 24-504 · Built 1958Airframe 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.

Pilot of N5449P on March 4, 2019 had a gear up landing at Borrego valley airport (L08). Pilot stated that he was returning to carlsbad airport (crq) and he went to put his landing gear down. As he did this, the circuit breaker on the gear motor popped. He reset everything and tried to lower the gear again, same result, the gear motor circuit breaker popped. He then went to the emergency checklist and began to attempt to lower the gear manually. The gear did not extend manually. He left crq and flew over to fallbrook (L18) to assess the situation. He did a low pass over L18 and had a person on the ground check the position of the landing gear. They indicated that the gear was sagging but not down. At this point, the pilot attempted to return to crq. He stated that the crq was extremely busy. Therefore, he decided to fly to LO8. He knew that the airport would not be busy. He landed gear up at LO8, without any further incident. Due to the problem with the gear not extending, using the published emergency procedures, airworthiness will follow up with the pilot to inspect the aircraft to determine cause of gear extension failure.

As the FAA filed it

PILOT OF N5449P ON MARCH 4, 2019 HAD A GEAR UP LANDING AT BORREGO VALLEY AIRPORT (L08). PILOT STATED THAT HE WAS RETURNING TO CARLSBAD AIRPORT (CRQ) AND HE WENT TO PUT HIS LANDING GEAR DOWN. AS HE DID THIS, THE CIRCUIT BREAKER ON THE GEAR MOTOR POPPED. HE RESET EVERYTHING AND TRIED TO LOWER THE GEAR AGAIN, SAME RESULT, THE GEAR MOTOR CIRCUIT BREAKER POPPED. HE THEN WENT TO THE EMERGENCY CHECKLIST AND BEGAN TO ATTEMPT TO LOWER THE GEAR MANUALLY. THE GEAR DID NOT EXTEND MANUALLY. HE LEFT CRQ AND FLEW OVER TO FALLBROOK (L18) TO ASSESS THE SITUATION. HE DID A LOW PASS OVER L18 AND HAD A PERSON ON THE GROUND CHECK THE POSITION OF THE LANDING GEAR. THEY INDICATED THAT THE GEAR WAS SAGGING BUT NOT DOWN. AT THIS POINT, THE PILOT ATTEMPTED TO RETURN TO CRQ. HE STATED THAT THE CRQ WAS EXTREMELY BUSY. THEREFORE, HE DECIDED TO FLY TO LO8. HE KNEW THAT THE AIRPORT WOULD NOT BE BUSY. HE LANDED GEAR UP AT LO8, WITHOUT ANY FURTHER INCIDENT. DUE TO THE PROBLEM WITH THE GEAR NOT EXTENDING, USING THE PUBLISHED EMERGENCY PROCEDURES, AIRWORTHINESS WILL FOLLOW UP WITH THE PILOT TO INSPECT THE AIRCRAFT TO DETERMINE CAUSE OF GEAR EXTENSION FAILURE.