- Date
- May 26, 2005, 15:30 local (23:30 UTC)
- Place
- Manokotak, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N65MRPiper PA-31-310
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 13, 2005
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- FAA-ANC FSDO 03
- FAA report
- 20050526011459A
- Case key
- 61608
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to extend the landing gear. A contributing factor was the pilot's failure to use the checklist.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The commercial certificated pilot reported that during the base leg portion of his approach to the airport, he lowered partial flaps, but did not lower the landing gear. As the approach to the airport continued, the pilot said he failed to complete the landing checklist, and landed with the landing gear retracted. The airplane received structural damage to the fuselage, necessitating replacement/repair of several bulkheads, and a large area of belly skin from the nose wheel to the tail.
Factual narrative
On May 26, 2005, about 1530 Alaska daylight time, a Piper PA-31-310 airplane, N65MR, sustained substantial damage when it landed with the landing gear retracted at the Manokotak Airport, Manokotak, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) cross-country positioning flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91, when the accident occurred. The airplane was operated by the Missionary Aviation Repair Center, Soldotna, Alaska. The commercial certificated pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The flight originated at the Dillingham Airport, Dillingham, Alaska, about 1515, and no flight plan was filed, nor was one required.
During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC), on May 27, the pilot reported that during the base leg portion of his approach to the airport, he lowered partial flaps, but did not lower the landing gear. As the approach to the airport continued, the pilot said he failed to complete the landing checklist, and landed with the landing gear retracted.
The airplane received structural damage to the fuselage, necessitating replacement/repair of several bulkheads, and a large area of belly skin from the nose wheel to the tail.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N65MR
- Reported as
- Piper PA-31-310
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 31-347
- Airframe hours
- 15,775
- Engine
- Lycoming TIO-540-A2B, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Positioning · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Missionary Aviation Repair Center
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- PADL · Dillingham, AK
- Destination
- 17Z · Manokotak, AK
- Airport
- 17Z · Manokotak, runway 01
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 56
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2
- Flight hours
- 4,792 total · 64 in this make and model · 40 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 50° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 25 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 57 °F, dew point 34 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.62 inHg
- Observed at
- PADL
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.