- Date
- May 17, 2005, 15:06 local (20:06 UTC)
- Place
- Midland, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N6037WBeech BE-55
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 13, 2005
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Lubbock, Texas
- FAA report
- 20050517007859A
- Case key
- 61506
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 which resulted in a gear-up landing. A contributing factor was the pilot's failure to follow the checklist.
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 3,729-hour private pilot failed to follow the airplane's Normal Procedures-Before Landing checklist, which resulted in a gear-up landing. Additionally, maintenance personnel, who responded to the accident and assisted in recovering the airplane, reported that the landing gear handle was found in the "up" position and when battery power was applied to lower the landing gear, the landing gear warning horn actuated.
Factual narrative
On May 17, 2005, at 1506 central standard time, a Beech BE 55 twin-engine airplane, N6037W, sustained substantial damage, during a gear-up landing while landing at the Midland International Airport (MAF), near Midland, Texas. The private pilot/owner, sole occupant of the airplane, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the personal flight conducted under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.
A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector interviewed maintenance personnel, who responded to the accident and assisted in recovering the airplane from the runway. The maintenance personnel reported that the landing gear handle was found in the "up" position and when battery power was applied to lower the landing gear, the landing gear warning horn actuated. Examination of the lower fuselage revealed structural damage to the wing spar.
When asked how this accident could have been prevented the pilot said, "I put my hand on [the] gear down [handle] and it stays there till I see 3 lites."
The airplane manufacturer requires that the pilot extend the landing gear as per the Normal Procedures-Before Landing checklist.
At 1453, weather at the airport was reported as wind from 180 degrees at 7 knots gusting to 16 knots, 10 miles visibility, and clear skies.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6037W
- Reported as
- Beech BE-55
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- TC-2238
- Engine
- Continental IO-470, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Rudolph A. Berg
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- MAF · Midland, TX
- Destination
- Midland, TX
- Airport
- MAF · Midland International Airport, runway 16R, 9,501 × 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
- 88
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3
- Flight hours
- 3,729 total · 3,238 in this make and model · 15 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.