- Date
- November 15, 1999, 12:13 local (17:13 UTC)
- Place
- Romulus, MI
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N4UEPiper PA-31-350
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 30, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19991115045719A
- Case key
- 47809
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 inadvertent wheels-up landing by the pilot.
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
According to the pilot's written statement, on short final to runway 03R he extended full flaps and retarded the engines at which time the gear warning horn sounded. The pilot reported, '...heard gear warning horn but before action could be taken, props [propellers] struck runway. Aircraft slid to a stop on runway. Shut down & secured aircraft.'
Factual narrative
On November 15, 1999, at 1213 eastern standard time, a Piper PA-31-350, N4UE, piloted by a commercial pilot, sustained substantial damage during a wheels-up landing on runway 03R (10,000 feet by 150 feet, dry/concrete) at the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, Detroit, Michigan. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The positioning flight was operating under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91 and was on an instrument flight plan. The pilot, the sole occupant, reported no injuries. The flight departed Cherry Capital Airport, Traverse City, Michigan, at 1100.
According to the pilot's written statement, on short final to runway 03R he extended full flaps and retarded the engines at which time the gear warning horn sounded. The pilot reported, "...heard gear warning horn but before action could be taken, props [propellers] struck runway. Aircraft slid to a stop on runway. Shut down & secured aircraft."
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4UE
- Reported as
- Piper PA-31-350
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 8152061
- Airframe hours
- 6,331
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-540-J2BD, 350 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Positioning · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Airnet Systems Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · October 12, 1999 · 52 hours before
- Departed
- TVC · Traverse City, MI
- Destination
- DTW
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- DTW · Detroit Metropolitan Arpt, runway 3R, 10,000 × 150 ft, concrete
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
- 21
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 330 total · 41 in this make and model · 250 as pilot in command · 53 in the last 90 days · 43 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 330° at 13 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 24,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 43 °F, dew point 27 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- DTW
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.