- Date
- March 8, 1992, 15:00 local (21:00 UTC)
- Place
- Romeoville, IL
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N242CFPiper PA-23-150
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 13, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19920308005309A
- Case key
- 15407
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 selected unsuitable terrain to make a precautionary landing when he did not receive a safe indication that the landing gear was down and locked. A factor in the accident was inability of the pilot to restart the left engine after intentionally shutting it down to simmulate an emergency.
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
During a multi-engine training flight, the instructor pilot said he shutdown the left engine. An engine restart was unsuccessful and an emergency ldg was initiated. Emergency gear extension procedures were attempted; however, gear down and locked indications were not seen by the pilot and he decided to land in a plowed field. On this model of acft, there is only one hydraulic pump which is on the left engine. The normal gear retraction/extension is hydraulically operated.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N242CF
- Reported as
- Piper PA-23-150
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 23-462
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-A1A, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Flying "C" Leasing
- Registered owner
- Flying "C" Leasing
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 15, 1992 · 70 hours before
- Departed
- ARR · Aurora, IL
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
- 30
- Certificates
- Commercial, Airline transport, Private, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 2,031 total · 1,964 as pilot in command · 263 in the last 90 days · 82 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 250° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 2,800 ft broken
- Temperature
- 61 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ARR, 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.