- Date
- May 13, 2026, 14:42 local (19:42 UTC)
- Place
- Corpus Christi, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N6915ZPiper PA-34-220T
- Defining event
- Landing: Landing gear not configured
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 30, 2026
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA San Antonio FSDO
- Case key
- 203005
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 main landing gear prior to landing, which resulted in a gear up landing. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s distraction during the approach.
Findings · 4
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 was instructed to navigate to the runway by approach control. During the approach, the pilot was instructed to change runways. The pilot reported that he forgot to extend the main landing gear because he was distracted due to the request to transition to a different runway. The airplane landed in a gear-up configuration on the runway and sustained substantial damage to the fuselage keel beams. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot further reported that the accident sequence involved “distracting circumstances.”
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6915Z
- Reported as
- Piper PA-34-220T
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 34-8533003
- Built
- 1985
- Airframe hours
- 3,916
- Engines
- Continental Motors TSIO360KB, 220 horsepower, reciprocatingContinental Motors TSIO360KB, 220 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 3, 2025 · 16 hours before
- Departed
- RFG · Refugio, TX
- Destination
- CRP · Corpus Christi, TX
- Airport
- CRP · Corpus Christi International Airport, runway 18, 6,080 × 150 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Auto-pilot, Angle of attack indicator, Electronic flight bag or handheld device, 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
- 62
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane, Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- December 16, 2025
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 20,179 total · 18 in this make and model · 5,885 as pilot in command · 148 in the last 90 days · 28 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 60° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 88 °F, dew point 64 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.05 inHg
- Observed at
- KCRP, 1 nm away
- METAR
- KCRP 131951Z 06007KT 10SM FEW037 FEW050 31/18 A3005 RMK AO2 SLP173 T03060178
Other investigations on N6915Z · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.