20250212000409I

Incident · Minor damage

FAA incident report · Piper PA-44-180 · Atwater, CA · February 12, 2025

Date
February 12, 2025 · 14:00 local
Place
Atwater, CA
Airport
Castle
Phase of flight
Landing: Touchdown
Operating rules
Pilot school (Part 141)
Operator
SRJS
Damage
Minor damage
Aircraft
N2440D
Reported as
Piper PA-44-180
People aboard
1
Fatal injuries
0
Other injuries
0
Pilot’s certificates
Commercial pilot, flight instructor
Pilot’s flight hours
980 total48 in this make and model109 in the last 90 days

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.

During a training flight, a student pilot failed to use the landing checklist, which led to the aircraft landing without the landing gear being down and locked. The instructor, distracted at the time, didn’t correct the mistake. When the sound of metal scraping was heard, the instructor quickly added power to perform a go-around. After the go-around, the aircraft was able to land safely.

As the FAA filed it

DURING A TRAINING FLIGHT, A STUDENT PILOT FAILED TO USE THE LANDING CHECKLIST, WHICH LED TO THE AIRCRAFT LANDING WITHOUT THE LANDING GEAR BEING DOWN AND LOCKED. THE INSTRUCTOR, DISTRACTED AT THE TIME, DIDN’T CORRECT THE MISTAKE. WHEN THE SOUND OF METAL SCRAPING WAS HEARD, THE INSTRUCTOR QUICKLY ADDED POWER TO PERFORM A GO-AROUND. AFTER THE GO-AROUND, THE AIRCRAFT WAS ABLE TO LAND SAFELY.