20240724011699A

A Piper seneca PA34 departed ogden airport (ogd) for a practice area northwest of the field and had been flying for approximately 1 hour performing flight maneuvers with a certified flight instructor (CFI) as the PIC and a student pilot. The CFI was providing instruction for a multi-engine add-on rating. Upon completion of the flight maneuvering in the practice area the CFI and student pilot executed the plan for pattern work at ogd. The crew requested the ILS to runway 03 at ogd they performed this approach followed by a missed approach. During the first approach the CFI and student pilot said they did not extend the landing gear because they knew they were going to go missed and not land. The CFI then requested a second ILS approach to ogd. The CFI requested this approach to practice a simulated single engine approach and landing. Prior to the final approach fix the crew performed landing checks using the landing checklist. Upon extending the landing gear the right main landing gear indicator did not show a green indication for being down and locked. The CFI raised the gear handle and all three-landing gear indicated up and locked. A second attempt was made to extend the landing gear and again the right gear light was not indicating green for being down and locked. The CFI swapped light bulbs for the gear lights to endure a bulb was not burnt out. There was no change in results. The CFI then decided to use the emergency extension method for lowering the gear. The gear indicator panel was still showing green lights for the front and left main gear only. There was no green indicator light for the right main gear. The crew then transmitted to ogd that they had a potential gear issue and requested a fly over to see if tower could verify if the gear was down. The tower approved a flyby parallel to runway 03 over taxiway a. tower control reported the right main gear appears to be down.

According to the playback recording from ogden tower ATC requested the aircraft make a right turn to climb and maintain 5500’MSL. As a precaution air traffic control (ATC) explained they would like to put the aircraft into a hold and allow time for fire trucks to get onto the field in case there was any issue with the right landing gear failing upon landing. The CFI agreed with atc’s plan and continued the climb to 5500’MSL. It was agreed the aircraft would make a right turn and hold in a racetrack pattern. This right turn was started on an extended upwind from runway 03. ATC stated it would be left traffic for the approach back to runway 03 once the fire trucks were in place. The CFI acknowledged the left traffic and that they would hold until they heard back from the tower.

After confirmation from ATC that the right main gear appeared to be down, the CFI was not convinced it was locked down as he reported feeling some oscillations and asymmetric drag on the aircraft. The CFI took flight controls and decided to shut down the right engine as a precaution. The CFI stated they thought it may cause less damage to the engine if it was shut down should the gear collapsed. The engine was shut down while the aircraft was in the holding pattern waiting for the fire trucks to arrive. With the engine shutdown and the gear down the aircraft was not able to maintain altitude. Next transmission was the PA34 CFI stating they needed an immediate landing for runway 03. ATC stated they were cleared to land. Next the CFI stated they were not going to make runway 03 and they were landing straight ahead. The aircraft was not able to complete the turn to make runway 03. The CFI reported losing altitude at approximately 150-300 feet per minute. The aircraft stuck a large tree on descent and crash landed in a residential neighborhood northwest of the ogd airport. The CFI had serious injuries and the student pilot had minor cuts to the face. No persons on the ground were injured.