20230708011199I

Incident · Minor damage

FAA incident report · Mooney M20J · Des Moines, IA · July 8, 2023

Date
July 8, 2023 · 09:50 local
Place
Des Moines, IA
Airport
Des Moines International
Phase of flight
Landing: Approach
Operating rules
General operating rules (Part 91)
Damage
Minor damage
Aircraft
N201PL
Reported as
Mooney M20J
People aboard
2
Fatal injuries
0
Other injuries
0
Pilot’s certificate
Private pilot
Pilot’s flight hours
500 total

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 approach landing gear was selected down but remained unsafe. Checked landing gear circuit breaker, recycled and followed emergency gear extension checklist to lower the gear but it remained unsafe and the floor indicator indicated it was not down. Ground observation on fly by indicated gear partially down. Continued to work the checklist several more times and another fly by confirmed no changes in the landing gear. Declared an emergency and one last fly by then landed with the gear partially extended.

As the FAA filed it

ON APPROACH LANDING GEAR WAS SELECTED DOWN BUT REMAINED UNSAFE. CHECKED LANDING GEAR CIRCUIT BREAKER, RECYCLED AND FOLLOWED EMERGENCY GEAR EXTENSION CHECKLIST TO LOWER THE GEAR BUT IT REMAINED UNSAFE AND THE FLOOR INDICATOR INDICATED IT WAS NOT DOWN. GROUND OBSERVATION ON FLY BY INDICATED GEAR PARTIALLY DOWN. CONTINUED TO WORK THE CHECKLIST SEVERAL MORE TIMES AND ANOTHER FLY BY CONFIRMED NO CHANGES IN THE LANDING GEAR. DECLARED AN EMERGENCY AND ONE LAST FLY BY THEN LANDED WITH THE GEAR PARTIALLY EXTENDED.