# Incident 20260503006119I: Piper PA-34-200T, Lake Charles, LA, May 3, 2026

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: May 3, 2026, 13:55 local time
- Place: Lake Charles, LA
- Airport: Lake Charles Regional
- Damage: Minor damage
- Phase of flight: Landing: Touchdown
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 30.1261° N, 93.2234° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs at LAKE CHARLES RGNL (LCH), within about a mile (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=30.1261&lon=-93.2234&mi=10
- Aircraft: N32015, registered now (https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N32015) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Piper PA-34-200T (registry code 7103406, https://openairdocs.org/model/piper-pa-34-200t) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: Continental TSIO-360 series (registry code 17019, https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-tsio-360-series) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: PIPER PA-34-200T
- Reported engine: CONT MOTOR TSIO-360 SER
- People aboard: 2
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Other injuries: 0
- Pilot certificates: Flight instructor
- Pilot flight hours: 1,060 total
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20260503006119I

## Narrative

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

INCIDENT AIRCRAFT WAS ON A TRAINING FLIGHT PERFORMING MANEUVERS AND PERFORMING MULTIPLE SHORT-FIELD TAKEOFFS/LANDINGS ON RUNWAY 15 AT THE LAKE CHARLES AIRPORT REGIONAL AIRPORT (LCH).  INSTRUMENT STUDENT PILOT STATED THAT WHILE IN THE TRAFFIC PATTERN FLYING A RIGHT DOWNWIND TO RUNWAY 15 TO PERFORM A SHORT-FIELD LANDING HE INITIATED THE LANDING GEAR EXTENSION SEQUENCE. UPON DOING SO HE NOTICED THE THREE GREEN GEAR INDICATOR LIGHTS FLICKERED GREEN BRIEFLY AND THEN EXTINGUISHED.  HE NOTIFIED THE CFI OF THE ABNORMAL INDICATION.  CFI ANNOUNCED THAT HE WAS TAKING THE CONTROLS AND ASSUMED COMMAND OF THE AIRCRAFT.  CFI INDICATED TO THE TOWER THAT THEY HAD AN UNSAFE LANDING GEAR INDICATION.   LAKE CHARLES TOWER SUGGESTED THE AIRCRAFT DO A LOW PASS, WHERE IT WAS OBSERVED THAT THE FRONT GEAR WAS DOWN, THE RIGHT MAIN GEAR WAS PARTIALLY DOWN, AND THE LEFT MAIN GEAR WAS NOT EXTENDED AT ALL.  CFI STATED THAT HE PERFORMED THE EMERGENCY GEAR EXTENSION PROCEDURE AT WHICH TIME ALL THREE GREEN LIGHTS WERE ILLUMINATED AND TOWER VISUALLY CONFIRMED THAT ALL THREE WHEELS WERE DOWN.  IN THE DOWNWIND, CFI PERFORMED G-LOADING MANEUVERS TO ASSURE GEAR LOCKING.  UPON THE AIRCRAFT TOUCHING DOWN ON RUNWAY 15 AND WEIGHT TRANSFERRED TO THE GEAR, THE LANDING GEAR COLLAPSED.  THE AIRCRAFT SKIDDED APPROXIMATELY 500 FEET DOWN THE RUNWAY, VEERED SLIGHTLY LEFT, AND CAME TO A STOP JUST BEFORE THE GRASS.

DURING INVESTIGATION FAA IIC FOUND THE LANDING GEAR SELECT SWITCH RETAINING NUT BROKEN.  THEREFORE, LANDING GEAR SELECT SWITCH WAS LOOSE AND LANDING GEAR CONTROL WIRING WAS INTERMITTENTLY SHORTING TO THE AIRFRAME.

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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