- Date
- March 31, 2010, 15:00 local (19:00 UTC)
- Place
- Sevierville, TN
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N43BSBeech 95-B55 (T42A)
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Landing gear not configured
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 12, 2010
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20100331030529A
- Case key
- 75623
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 on the ground during a touch-and-go landing.
Findings · 2
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 the intent of the flight was to conduct touch-and-go landings in the twin-engine, retractable-gear airplane. He stated that he made a "textbook" first landing, and that during the landing rollout he attempted to raise the wing flaps for takeoff. The pilot "mistook the gear lever for the flaps" and the landing gear began to retract. He added power to "overcome the sinking," but the right propeller struck the ground and the airplane "spun to the right." The airplane came to rest upright in a grassy area between the runway and taxiway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the wings, fuselage, and empennage. The pilot reported 50 hours of flight time in the accident airplane and flew it "every couple of weeks." The pilot's most recent experience in the accident airplane make and model was 30 days prior to the accident. The airplane's landing gear and flap control levers were the same color and approximately the same size, but were located on opposite sides of the control column.
Factual narrative
The pilot stated that the intent of the flight was to conduct touch-and-go landings in the twin-engine, retractable-gear airplane. He stated that he made a "textbook" first landing, and that during the landing rollout, he attempted to raise the wing flaps for takeoff. The pilot "mistook the gear lever for the flaps" and the landing gear began to retract. He added power to "overcome the sinking," but the right propeller struck the ground, and the airplane "spun to the right." The airplane came to rest upright, in a grassy area between the runway and taxiway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the wings, fuselage, and empennage. The pilot reported 50 hours of flight time in the accident airplane, and flew it "every couple of weeks." The pilot's most recent experience in the accident airplane make and model was 30 days prior to the accident. The airplane's landing gear and flap control levers were the same color and approximately the same size, but were located on opposite sides of the control column.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N43BS
- Reported as
- Beech 95-B55 (T42A)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- TC-1358
- Airframe hours
- 3,019
- Engines
- Cont Motor IO-470 SERIES, 260 horsepower, reciprocatingCont Motor IO-470 SERIES, 260 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- 43bs LLC
- Registered owner
- 43bs LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 13, 2009
- Departed
- GKT · Sevierville, TN
- Destination
- GKT · Sevierville, TN
- Airport
- GKT · Gatlinburg-Pigeon Forge, runway 28, 5,506 × 75 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
- 59
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter, Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- July 12, 2009
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 4,366 total · 50 in this make and model · 100 in the last 90 days · 30 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 230° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F, dew point 37 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.04 inHg
- Observed at
- TYS, 28 nm away
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 10, 2010, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.