# Incident 20260925012919I: Piper PA-44-180, Cahokia, IL, September 25, 2026

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: September 25, 2026, 14:15 local time
- Place: Cahokia, IL
- Airport: St Louis Downtown
- Damage: Minor damage
- Phase of flight: Takeoff: Climb Out
- Operating rules: Pilot school (Part 141)
- Location: 38.5704° N, 90.1551° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs at ST LOUIS DOWNTOWN (CPS), within about a mile (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=38.5704&lon=-90.1551&mi=10
- Aircraft: N30608, registered now (https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N30608) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Piper PA-44-180 (registry code 7104402, https://openairdocs.org/model/piper-pa-44-180) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: Lycoming O-360-A1H6 (registry code 42399, https://openairdocs.org/engine/lycoming-o-360-a1h6) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: PIPER PA-44-180
- Reported engine: LYCOMING O-360-A1H6
- People aboard: 2
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Other injuries: 0
- Pilot certificates: Commercial pilot, flight instructor
- Pilot flight hours: 1,383 total
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20260925012919I

## Narrative

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

A NOSE GEAR COLLAPSE INCIDENT OCCURRED INVOLVING ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^ AT 14:15 CAHOKIA AIRPORT CPS ON A TRAINING FLIGHT. AFTER TAKEOFF THE PILOT RETRACED THE GEAR, HALFWAY THROUGH THE GEAR’S NORMAL RETRACTION CYCLE THEY HEARD A THUD NOISE. THE GEAR UNSAFE INDICATOR WAS ILLUMINATED; THE PILOT CONFIRMED THE NOSE GEAR HAD NOT RETRACED BY LOOKING IN THE MIRROR ON THE ENGINE. THE PILOT RECYCLED THE GEAR, AND IT STILL DID NOT INDICATE DOWN AND LOCKED. USING THE EMERGENCY GEAR EXTENSION CHECKLIST, THE PILOT SWITCHED BULBS ON THE GEAR POSITION INDICATORS, CHECKED THE CIRCUIT BREAKERS AND RESET THE GEAR INDICTOR AND WARNING BREAKERS. HE ALSO RESET THE HYDRAULIC PUMP CONTROL AND POWER CIRCUIT BREAKERS WITH NO CHANGES. THE TOWER CONFIRMED THAT ALL THREE GEARS WERE DOWN, AND THEY PROCEEDED TO MAKE A LANDING BACK AT CPS. THE NOSE GEAR COLLAPSED ON LANDING.

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.

---
OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.
