- Date
- August 13, 2008, 18:50 local (23:50 UTC)
- Place
- Pine Bluff, AR
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N6265PPiper PA-24-250
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Landing gear collapse
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 22, 2009
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA Flight Stabdards District Office
- FAA report
- 20080813843149A
- Case key
- 68717
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
Landing gear collapse for reasons undetermined.
Findings · 1
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
According to the pilot, the landing gear was down and locked and the green GEAR SAFE light was illuminated. When the airplane touched down and the nose settled, the pilot heard the propeller strike the runway. The airplane skidded approximately 300 feet, then the main landing gear collapsed and the airplane skidded to a halt. The pilot exited the airplane. Shortly thereafter, as he walked back towards the airplane, he heard a "pop" and saw a small fire under the firewall and in front of the wing. The airplane became engulfed in flames. The cockpit and cabin area was completely gutted. A mechanic examined the airplane but was unable to determine the cause of the landing gear failure due to the amount of fire damage.
Factual narrative
On August 13, 2008 approximately 1850 central daylight time, a Piper PA-24-2560, N6265P, pilot by a private pilot, was destroyed when the nose landing gear collapsed on landing and the airplane caught fire at Grider Field (PBF), Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The personal flight was being conducted under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 without a flight plan. The pilot, the sole occupant on board, was not injured. The local flight originated at PBF approximately 1815.
According to the pilot's accident report, the landing gear was down and locked and the green GEAR SAFE light was illuminated. After the airplane touched down and the nose settled, the pilot heard the propeller strike the runway. The airplane skidded approximately 300 feet, then the main landing gear collapsed and the airplane skidded to a halt. The pilot exited the airplane. Shortly thereafter, as he walked back towards the airplane, he heard a "pop" and saw a small fire under the firewall and in front of the wing. The airplane became engulfed in flames. The cockpit and cabin area was completely gutted.
A mechanic who examined the airplane wrote, "I am unable to give any reliable assessment as to the cause of the landing gear failure due to the amount of fire damage."
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6265P
- Reported as
- Piper PA-24-250
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 24-1373
- Airframe hours
- 1,920
- Engine
- Lycoming O-540-A1C5, 250 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Carl D. Purnell
- Registered owner
- Carl D. Purnell
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 1, 2007 · 60 hours before
- Departed
- PBF · Pine Bluff, AR
- Destination
- PBF · Pine Bluff, AR
- Airport
- PBF · Grider Field, runway 35, 5,998 × 150 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
- 82
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 3,300 total · 1,600 in this make and model · 3,300 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 10° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 86 °F, dew point 64 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.80 inHg
- Observed at
- PBF
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.