- Date
- March 27, 2020, 00:15 local (04:15 UTC)
- Place
- Opalocka, FL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N516DTAero Commander 500
- Defining event
- Landing-aborted after touchdown: Landing gear not configured
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- Status
- Completed · report August 27, 2020
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20200327009259A
- Case key
- 101156
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 due to distraction and his delayed go-around, which allowed the airplane to get too low and contact the runway with the landing gear retracted.
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, during the descent to final, he began the GUMPS checklist. As he turned on the fuel tanks, he picked up interference on the radios. After fixing the radio situation, he continued the checklist. During the landing flare, he noticed that the "runway sight picture" seemed lower than normal. As he noticed this, he looked at the landing gear indicator, and the landing gear warning horn simultaneously sounded, so he initiated a go-around. While climbing to traffic pattern altitude, he noticed that he had failed to extend the landing gear. He added that he had not heard or felt the airplane contact the runway before the go-around. The pilot subsequently landed without incident and noted no damage during a cursory postflight inspection. He then departed and landed at another airport. Subsequently, he performed a more thorough postflight inspection of the airplane, during which he noticed that the marker beacon antenna was shaved off and that the lower fuselage of the airplane had sustained substantial damage consistent with ground contact.
Factual narrative
At the conclusion of an uneventful flight, the commercial pilot approached the runway for landing. During the landing flare, the airplane landing gear warning horn activated, so the pilot initiated a go around. While climbing to traffic pattern altitude he noticed that the landing gear handle was in the up position. He did not hear or feel the airplane contact the runway. The pilot subsequently landed and departed without incident; however, after landing at another airport he performed a more thorough post-flight inspection of the airplane. He then noticed that the marker beacon antenna was shaved off and the lower fuselage had sustained substantial damage consistent with ground contact.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N516DT
- Reported as
- Aero Commander 500 (B)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 1574
- Built
- 1965
- Airframe hours
- 25,876
- Engines
- Lycoming IO540-E145, 290 horsepower, reciprocatingLycoming IO540-E145, 290 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 135
- Operator
- Central Airlines Inc
- Registered owner
- Central Airlines Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- AAIP · February 18, 2020
- Departed
- VDF · Tampa, FL
- Destination
- OPF · Miami, FL
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- OPF · Miami-Opa Locka Executive, runway 12, 6,800 × 150 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- ADS-B, Handheld GPS, Stall warning system
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
- 53
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- April 7, 2020
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Flight hours
- 2,156 total · 1,093 in this make and model · 1,980 as pilot in command · 210 in the last 90 days · 36 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- Wind
- 140° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 68 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.04 inHg
- Observed at
- OPF
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 27, 2020, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.6 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.