- Date
- October 9, 2007, 08:13 local (14:13 UTC)
- Place
- Trinidad, CO
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N313RAPiper PA-31-350
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 20, 2007
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA Flight Standards District Office
- FAA report
- 20071009022279A
- Case key
- 66913
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 extend the landing gear.
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 failed to extend the landing gear, resulting in substantial damage to the bottom of the fuselage. The operator noted, "[The] pilot freely admits to forgetting to extend gear." the report said. Photographs of the airplane reveal the fuselage skin to be gone, exposing several compromised bulkheads.
Factual narrative
On October 9, 2007, at 0813 mountain daylight time, a Piper PA-31-350, N313RA, operated by Key Lime Air, Inc., (KY7A) and piloted by a commercial pilot, was substantially damaged when it landed wheels up at Perry Stokes Airport (TAD), Trinidad, Colorado. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The non-scheduled domestic cargo flight was being conducted under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 135, and an instrument flight rulers (IFR) flight plan had been filed. The pilot, the sole occupant aboard, was not injured. The cross-country flight originated at Lamar Municipal Airport (LAA), Lamar, Colorado, approximately 0740, and was en route to TAD.
According to the operator's accident report, the pilot failed to extend the landing gear, resulting in substantial damage to the bottom of the fuselage. "[The] pilot freely admits to forgetting to extend gear," the report said. Photographs of the airplane reveal the fuselage skin to be gone, exposing several compromised bulkheads.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N313RA
- Reported as
- Piper PA-31-350
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 31-8052069
- Airframe hours
- 9,885
- Engine
- Textron Lycoming TIO-540-J2BD, 350 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 135
- Operator
- Key Lime Air, Inc.
- Registered owner
- EDB, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · August 1, 2007 · 69 hours before
- Departed
- LAA · Lamar, CO
- Destination
- TAD · Trinidad, CO
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- TAD · Perry Stokes Field, runway 21, 5,498 × 100 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
- 26
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- June 1, 2007
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,573 total · 367 in this make and model · 1,500 as pilot in command · 181 in the last 90 days · 56 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 290° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 36 °F, dew point 18 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.26 inHg
- Observed at
- TAD
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.