- Date
- June 7, 2002, 17:00 local (23:00 UTC)
- Place
- Newcastle, WY
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N8735ABeech A35
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 20, 2002
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA Flight Standards District Office
- FAA report
- 20020607012139A
- Case key
- 54955
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-in-command's failure to lower the landing gear prior to landing.
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
After practicing maneuvers outlined in the commercial pilot practical flight test guide, the pilot returned to the airport and performed different types of takeoffs and landings on runway 31. The pilot said the airport's AWOS (automated weather observation station) then reported a wind shift, and he made an approach to runway 13. He forgot to lower the landing gear and landed wheels up. According to a Raytheon Aircraft Company spokesman, the airplane is equipped with an audible landing gear warning system that activates whenever power is reduced below 12 inches of manifold pressure and the landing gear is still retracted. The pilot said he didn't know if his airplane was so equipped and, if it was, he did not hear the warning horn prior to touchdown.
Factual narrative
On June 7, 2002, approximately 1700 mountain daylight time, a Beech A35, N8735A, registered to and operated by the pilot, was substantially damaged when it landed wheels-up at Mondell Field, Newcastle, Wyoming. The private pilot, the sole occupant aboard, was not injured. Day visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed for the local personal flight being conducted under Title 14 CFR Part 91. The flight originated at Newcastle approximately 1600.
The pilot had just purchased the airplane, and the purpose of the flight was to practice maneuvers outlined in the commercial pilot practical flight test guide. After practicing various maneuvers in the practice area, he returned to the airport and performed different types of takeoffs and landings on runway 31. The pilot said the airport's AWOS (automated weather observation station) then reported a wind shift, and he made an approach to runway 13. He forgot to lower the landing gear and landed wheels up.
According to a Raytheon Aircraft Company spokesman, the airplane is equipped with an audible landing gear warning system that activates whenever power is reduced below 12 inches of manifold pressure and the landing gear is still retracted. The pilot said he didn't know if his airplane was so equipped and, if it was, he did not hear the warning horn prior to touchdown.
According to a repairman who examined the airplane, three bulkheads aft of the firewall were buckled and the wing spar was bent when the extended flaps contacted the runway.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8735A
- Reported as
- Beech A35
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- D-2157
- Airframe hours
- 3,456
- Engine
- Continental E-225-8-20, 225 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Randal W. Rhoades
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 25, 2002 · 41 hours before
- Departed
- ECS · Newcastle, WY
- Destination
- ECS
- Airport
- ECS · Mondell Field, runway 13, 5,300 × 75 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
- 49
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- May 17, 2001
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 552 total · 50 in this make and model · 493 as pilot in command · 60 in the last 90 days · 31 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 60° at 12 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 45 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.89 inHg
- Observed at
- RAP, 55 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.