- Date
- March 20, 2025, 12:40 local (17:40 UTC)
- Place
- Liberal, KS
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N38871Piper PA-28R-201T
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Landing gear not configured
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dawn
- 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
- 20250320003179A
- Case key
- 199904
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 due to distraction and his failure to conduct the prelanding checklist.
Findings · 6
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
According to the pilot, shortly after takeoff, he heard a slapping noise outside the right front door of the airplane. He determined that the seatbelt was outside the door, and he decided to land to fix it. While on a midfield downwind to the runway, another pilot radioed that he was entering the vicinity of the airport to land. The accident pilot stated that he attempted to gauge the other pilot’s proximity to the airport and prepare himself for a crosswind landing and forgot to complete his prelanding checklist, which included lowering the landing gear. The airplane landed gear up, which resulted in substantial damage to the longerons on the belly of the airplane. The pilot reported that there were no malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N38871
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28R-201T
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28R-7703281
- Built
- 1977
- Airframe hours
- 4,730
- Engine
- Continental T5IO-360-FB, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Arrow Blue N38871 LLC
- Registered owner
- Arrow Blue N38871 LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 24, 2024
- Departed
- LBL · Liberal, KS
- Destination
- LBL · Liberal, KS
- Airport
- LBL · Liberal Mid America Regional, runway 35, 7,105 × 100 ft, concrete
- Equipment
- Stall warning system, ADS-B, Auto-pilot
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
- 75
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- BasicMed, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- December 10, 2024
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 1,000 total · 62 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dawn
- Wind
- 210° at 15 knots, gusting 20
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 55 °F, dew point 19 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.22 inHg
- Observed at
- KLBL
- METAR
- KLBL 201756Z AUTO 21015G20KT 10SM CLR 13/M07 A3022
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 17, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.3 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.