- Date
- September 13, 2019, 19:30 local (23:30 UTC)
- Place
- Sebring, FL
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N854TBeech 55
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Landing gear collapse
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed · report June 16, 2020
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA / FSDO
- FAA report
- 20190913018129A
- Case key
- 100987
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 passenger’s inadvertent retraction of the landing gear during the landing roll without being instructed to do so by the pilot.
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 reported that, shortly after landing, the passenger, without his permission or guidance, retracted the landing gear. The airplane impacted the runway, slid about 600 ft, and then came to rest. The pilot-rated passenger reported that, without the pilot's guidance, he mistakenly raised the gear handle then quickly lowered it again, thinking it was the flap handle, and that he was attempting to assist the pilot. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the center wing spar.
Factual narrative
The pilot of the retractable landing gear-equipped airplane reported that, shortly after landing the passenger, without his permission or guidance retracted the landing gear. The landing gear retracted, airplane impacted the runway and slid about 600 ft before coming to rest on the runway. The pilot rated passenger reported that, without the pilot's guidance, he mistakenly raised the gear handle then quickly lowered it again, thinking it was the flap handle. He was attempting to assist the pilot. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the center wing spar. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N854T
- Reported as
- Beech 55 (E55)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- TE-998
- Built
- 1974
- Engines
- Continental IO-550 Series, reciprocatingContinental IO-550 Series, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- FPR · Fort Pierce, FL
- Destination
- SEF · Sebring, FL
- Airport
- SEF · Sebring Rgnl, runway 01, 5,234 × 100 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Stall warning system, ADS-B, Auto-pilot, Onboard weather
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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 58
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- November 19, 2019
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 645 total · 90 in this make and model · 470 as pilot in command · 36 in the last 90 days · 21 in the last 30 days · 7 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Pilot-rated passenger
- Age
- 40
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane, Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- 4-point
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- 60° at 13 knots, gusting 16
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 82 °F, dew point 75 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.97 inHg
- Observed at
- KSEF
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on March 25, 2020, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.0 MB 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.