20200628008329I

Incident · Minor damage

FAA incident report · Piper PA-28R-200 · Burlington, NC · June 28, 2020

Date: June 28, 2020 · 14:00 local
Place: Burlington, NC
Airport: Burlington-Alamance Regional
Phase of flight: Landing: Touchdown
Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
Damage: Minor damage
Aircraft: N32727
Reported as: Piper PA-28R-200
Reported engine: Lycoming I0360 series
People aboard: 2
Fatal injuries: 0
Other injuries: 0
Pilot’s certificate: Private pilot
Pilot’s flight hours: 90 total10 in this make and model5 in the last 90 days

N32727Registered now · Piper PA-28R-200S/N 28R-7535082 Airframe modelPiper PA-28R-200 Engine modelLycoming I0360 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.

On June 28 2020, the pilot on N32727 departed from runway 24 at the Burlington regional airport (buy). The pilot planned to stay in the traffic pattern for landing practice. On the downwind leg the pilot reached for the gear handle to lower the gear and was distracted by a wind gust. After correcting the aircrafts flight path the pilot returned to his landing checks. At some point in the traffic pattern the gear horn started to sound. The pilot states that he did not know what the horn was for. Fearing there was something wrong with the plane the pilot continued the landing not wanting to possibly cause damage by flying longer. The pilot continued to the runway, inadvertently performing a gear up landing.

As the FAA filed it

ON JUNE 28 2020, THE PILOT ON N32727 DEPARTED FROM RUNWAY 24 AT THE BURLINGTON REGIONAL AIRPORT (BUY). THE PILOT PLANNED TO STAY IN THE TRAFFIC PATTERN FOR LANDING PRACTICE. ON THE DOWNWIND LEG THE PILOT REACHED FOR THE GEAR HANDLE TO LOWER THE GEAR AND WAS DISTRACTED BY A WIND GUST. AFTER CORRECTING THE AIRCRAFTS FLIGHT PATH THE PILOT RETURNED TO HIS LANDING CHECKS. AT SOME POINT IN THE TRAFFIC PATTERN THE GEAR HORN STARTED TO SOUND. THE PILOT STATES THAT HE DID NOT KNOW WHAT THE HORN WAS FOR. FEARING THERE WAS SOMETHING WRONG WITH THE PLANE THE PILOT CONTINUED THE LANDING NOT WANTING TO POSSIBLY CAUSE DAMAGE BY FLYING LONGER. THE PILOT CONTINUED TO THE RUNWAY, INADVERTENTLY PERFORMING A GEAR UP LANDING.