- Date
- April 26, 2010, 17:00 local (22:00 UTC)
- Place
- Jamestown, ND
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N5868VPiper PA-32R-300
- Defining event
- Landing: Landing gear not configured
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 22, 2010
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA Fargo FDSO
- FAA report
- 20100426033409A
- Case key
- 75873
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 lower the landing gear, resulting in a gear-up landing.
Findings · 3
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot reported that he was approaching the airport with the intention of performing three touch and go landings. He went over the landing checklist as he was nearing the field, but he did not put the landing gear down because he was not on the downwind leg, where he would normally complete the checklist. He reported, “As I turned final, I thought I had the gear down but didn’t.” He reported that the gear up warning horn never sounded. The airplane touched down in a wings level attitude on the runway, which resulted in a bent propeller and substantial damage to the “hat” assemblies, which are U-shaped structural channels on the belly of the airplane. The landing gear handle was found in the UP position. The inspection of the airplane revealed that the landing gear extended and retracted when the airplane was put on jacks. The “Warning Gear Unsafe” light illuminated when the throttle was pulled to the idle position with the landing gear in the retracted position. The “Warning Gear Unsafe” light is about a 1-inch square red light located directly in front of the pilot on the instrument panel. However, the “Gear Warning Horn” did not sound.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that he was approaching the airport with the intention of performing three touch and go landings. He went over the landing checklist as he was nearing the field, but he did not put the landing gear down because he was not on the downwind leg, where he would normally complete the checklist. He reported, “As I turned final, I thought I had the gear down but didn’t.” He reported that the gear up warning horn never sounded. The airplane touched down in a wings level attitude on the runway, which resulted in a bent propeller and substantial damage to the “hat” assemblies, which are U-shaped structural channels on the belly of the airplane. The landing gear handle was found in the UP position. The inspection of the airplane revealed that the landing gear extended and retracted when the airplane was put on jacks. The “Warning Gear Unsafe” light illuminated when the throttle was pulled to the idle position with the landing gear in the retracted position. The “Warning Gear Unsafe” light is about a 1-inch square red light located directly in front of the pilot on the instrument panel. However, the “Gear Warning Horn” did not sound.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5868V
- Reported as
- Piper PA-32R-300
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 32R-7783069
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-540-K1G5D, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Silas Liechty
- Registered owner
- Robert Frey
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- JMS · Jamestown, ND
- Destination
- JMS · Jamestown, ND
- Airport
- JMS · Jamestown Regional Airport
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
- 78
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3
- Flight hours
- 5,000 total · 100 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 26, 2010, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 885 KB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.