# Incident 20230412012609I: Beech V35A, Fergus Falls, MN, April 12, 2023

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: April 12, 2023, 14:38 local time
- Place: Fergus Falls, MN
- Airport: Fergus Falls Municipal-Einar Mickel
- Damage: Minor damage
- Phase of flight: Landing: Touchdown
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 46.2844° N, 96.1567° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs at Fergus Falls Municipal Airport - Einar Mickelson Field (FFM), within about a mile (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=46.2844&lon=-96.1567&mi=10
- Aircraft: N8478N, registered now (https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N8478N) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Beech V35A (registry code 1151544, https://openairdocs.org/model/beech-v35a) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: Continental IO-520 series (registry code 17032, https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-io-520-series) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: BEECH V35A
- Reported engine: CONT MOTOR IO 520 SERIES
- People aboard: 2
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Other injuries: 0
- Pilot certificates: Private pilot
- Pilot flight hours: 5,600 total, 4,300 in this make and model, 3 in the last 90 days
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20230412012609I

## Narrative

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

04/12/2023 FLIGHT FROM FLYING CLOUD (KFCM) TO FERGUS FALLS (KFFM), 2 PEOPLE ON BOARD, PIC AND QUALIFIED CFI AS A PASSENGER IN RIGHT SEAT. ON FINAL APPROACH TO RUNWAY 31 AT KFFM THE LANDING GEAR WAS SELECTED DOWN. THE DOWN LOCK LIGHT DID NOT ILLUMINATE. THE SITUATION WAS DISCUSSED BETWEEN THE PIC AND CFI. A GO AROUND WAS DISCUSSED BUT AFTER SWITCHING BULBS FROM ANOTHER LIGHT SOCKET THE PIC BELIEVED THE DOWN LOCK LIGHT WAS ILLUMINATED AND MADE THE DECISION TO LAND. TOUCHDOWN OF THE MAIN LANDING GEAR WAS NORMAL BUT THE NOSE GEAR COLLAPSED AND THE PROP STRUCK THE RUNWAY CAUSING THE ENGINE TO STOP BEFORE THE AIRCRAFT SLID TO A STOP. NO INJURIES AND DAMAGE WAS DETERMINED TO BE MINOR. THE CFI OPENED THE AIRCRAFT DOOR AND REACHED IN THE BACK SEAT TO GET HIS BAG PRIOR TO EXITING THE AIRCRAFT. AT THAT POINT HE FOUND THE EMERGENCY GEAR EXTENSION HANDLE WAS ENGAGED AND THE STRAP FROM HIS BAG HAD BECOME TIGHTLY WOUND AROUND THE HANDLE.

## Other reports on N8478N (1)

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

- [Accident 19830215005749A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/19830215005749A), Feb 15, 1983: Beech V35A (N8478N), Sioux Falls, SD, Destroyed. Struck powerline, trees and mobile home 3 miles short of field on a ILS approach, was 1000 feet too low.

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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