- Date
- March 17, 2010, 10:00 local (14:00 UTC)
- Place
- Baltimore, MD
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N7925YPiper PA-30
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Landing gear collapse
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 22, 2010
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20100317029609A
- Case key
- 75556
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 inadvertent retraction of the landing gear during a touch-and-go landing. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's lack of recent experience in the make and model airplane.
Findings · 3
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
The pilot stated that he accumulated 26 hours of flight time in the accident airplane about 2 years prior to the accident, but had not flown the accident airplane since. About 1 week prior to the accident, the pilot obtained his airplane multiengine rating in a different make and model than the accident airplane. The pilot stated that the purpose of the accident flight was to perform full-stop landings in order to familiarize himself with the airplane. While on the downwind leg of the traffic pattern for the first landing, he was cleared by the air traffic control tower for a "touch-and-go." After the airplane touched down, the pilot applied full power, and intended to retract the wing flaps, but inadvertently retracted the landing gear instead. The landing gear "immediately" collapsed, and the airplane slid to a stop on its underside. Both wings were substantially damaged. The pilot stated there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures, and that the accident might have been prevented if he had declined the touch-and-go landing, and had taken time to become more familiar with the locations of the landing gear and flap controls. He also stated that he had recently trained in an airplane with a "different layout," and his "sense memory for the controls was wrong."
Factual narrative
The pilot stated that he accumulated 26 hours of flight time in the accident airplane about 2 years prior to the accident, but had not flown the accident airplane since. About 1 week prior to the accident, the pilot obtained his airplane multiengine rating in a different make and model than the accident airplane. The pilot stated that the purpose of the accident flight was to perform full-stop landings in order to familiarize himself with the airplane. While on the downwind leg of the traffic pattern for the first landing, he was cleared by the air traffic control tower for a "touch-and-go." After the airplane touched down, the pilot applied full power, and intended to retract the wing flaps, but inadvertently retracted the landing gear instead. The landing gear "immediately" collapsed, and the airplane slid to a stop on its underside. Both wings were substantially damaged. The pilot stated there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures, and that the accident might have been prevented if he had declined the touch-and-go landing, and had taken time to become more familiar with the locations of the landing gear and flap controls. He also stated that he had recently trained in an airplane with a "different layout," and his "sense memory for the controls was wrong."
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7925Y
- Reported as
- Piper PA-30
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 30-1015
- Airframe hours
- 8,700
- Engines
- Lycoming IO-320 SERIES, 160 horsepower, reciprocatingLycoming IO-320 SERIES, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 15, 2009
- Departed
- MTN · Baltimore, MD
- Destination
- MTN · Baltimore, MD
- Airport
- MTN · Martin State, runway 33, 6,996 × 180 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
- 47
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- March 6, 2010
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 633 total · 26 in this make and model · 538 as pilot in command · 11 in the last 90 days · 11 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 350° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 55 °F, dew point 32 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.07 inHg
- Observed at
- MTN
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 10, 2010, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 588 KB in all.
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 N7925Y · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.