- Date
- August 13, 1991, 12:15 local (17:15 UTC)
- Place
- Lake In Hills, IL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N40446Piper PA-32-R300
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 8, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910813034009A
- Case key
- 15155
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 perform an adequate preflight by assuring the gear lever was in the down and locked position.
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
The pilot said that he failed to notice the gear retraction lever was in the up position during the takeoff roll. The gear retracted which resulted in loss of directional control. The acft veered off the runway colliding with the terrain.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N40446
- Reported as
- Piper PA-32-R300
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 32R7780517
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-540-K1G5D, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Stephen, George, A. Jr.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 30, 1991
- Airport
- 3CK · Lake In The Hills, runway 8, 3,700 × 50 ft, asphalt
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
- 46
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Unknown
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 509 total · 52 in this make and model · 391 as pilot in command · 5 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 70° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Observed at
- DPA, 20 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.