- Date
- August 3, 1994, 11:30 local (16:30 UTC)
- Place
- Sandwich, IL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N35EBeech D17R
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 29, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19940803020059A
- Case key
- 9623
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 failure of the pilot to lower the landing gear. Factors related to the accident were the loss of engine rpm, for undetermined reasons, and the diverted attention of 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
Shortly after takeoff the pilot reported he noticed a drop in RPM when he reduced power to the cruise setting. He elected to return to the airport he had just departed and make a precautionary landing. The pilot reported he was distracted and became concerned with the engine RPM, and failed to lower the landing gear. The airplane slid down the runway and caught fire.
Factual narrative
On August 3, 1994, about 1130 central daylight time, a Beech D17R, N35E, was destroyed when it was consumed by fire after the pilot made a gear-up landing at the Woodlake Landing Airport, Sandwich, Illinois. The commercial pilot was not injured. The personal flight originated at Woodlake Landing with an intended destination of Mount Airy, North Carolina. No flight plan was filed, and visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time.
The pilot reported he noticed a drop in engine rpm shortly after takeoff, and elected to return to the airport and make a precautionary landing. He could not maintain airspeed with the landing gear down so he raised it. In his statement he said he, "...was concerned with rpm status, was apparently distracted, lowered flaps on short final, and failed to lower the gear."
The Federal Aviation Administration inspector who examined the wreckage could find no reason for the loss of rpm.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N35E
- Reported as
- Beech D17R
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- D-17R-167
- Airframe hours
- 2,090
- Engine
- Wright R-975-11, 440 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Walter B. Thomas
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- AAIP · May 31, 1994 · 25 hours before
- Departed
- C48
- Destination
- MWK · Mount Airy, NC
- Airport
- C48 · Woodlake Landing, runway 26, 2,988 × 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
- 71
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 10,570 total · 150 in this make and model · 10,300 as pilot in command · 70 in the last 90 days · 51 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 230° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 6 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ARR, 12 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.
Other investigations on N35E · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.