- Date
- December 28, 2020, 16:00 local (22:00 UTC)
- Place
- Navasota, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N1236Piper PA-30
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Landing gear not configured
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20201228018959A
- Case key
- 102481
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 before 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 recently purchased the accident airplane to transition from large airplanes back to small airplanes. He conducted a normal, uneventful flight. When he approached the airport to land, he went through the “GUMP” checklist twice. However, when the airplane touched down onto the runway the landing gear was retracted which resulted in substantial damage to the underlying structure of the lower fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation During a postaccident telephone conversation, the pilot mentioned that he accidentally merged the “GUMPS” check with a checklist he commonly used for large airplanes. He further reported that the airplane was not equipped with a landing gear horn, therefore, he was not alerted of the unsafe landing gear condition. He further stated that a landing gear warning horn will be installed on the airplane during the repair process.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1236
- Reported as
- Piper PA-30
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 30-1167
- Built
- 1966
- Airframe hours
- 3,999
- Engines
- Lycoming IO-320 SERIES, 160 horsepower, reciprocatingLycoming IO-320 SERIES, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 3, 2020
- Airport
- 60R · Navasota Muni, runway 17, 5,003 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Stall warning system, ADS-B
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
- 68
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- October 6, 2020
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Flight hours
- 29,200 total · 18 in this make and model · 9,853 as pilot in command · 10 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 130° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 8,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 57 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.16 inHg
- Observed at
- K11R, 16 nm away
- METAR
- K11R 282235Z AUTO 13006KT 10SM BKN080 24/14 A3016 RMK AO2 T02350139
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 11, 2021, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.5 MB 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.